Down in Flames
by Movaca
Summary: Serena begins down a path that could spell trouble for her and her family. - Completed
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
Serena sat at the vanity anxiously awaiting her date as her sister finished setting her hair. She was wearing a beautiful pale yellow dress outlined in a daisy patterned lace.   
  
"Serena, do you want me to curl the back?" Karen asked noticing her blank expression in the mirror. "Serena?...Serena?...Hey, wake up!" Karen said tapping her shoulder.  
  
"Huh...what?"  
  
"Do you want me to curl the back of your hair or leave it straight?" Karen asked.  
  
Finally looking at her sister's face in the mirror, she answered "Leave it straight...no...curl it...no...I don't care, whatever looks nice."  
  
"Alright sis, what gives?" Karen asked.  
  
"What do you mean, Karen?"  
  
"Serena, you're about to go out on one of the greatest nights of your life and you seem like you are a million miles away. What's going on?"  
  
"I"m just thinking about Dad. Wondering what he is doing on such an important night for me," Serena confessed.  
  
Scott was out of town on business. It seemed to be the norm anymore. She felt like she lived with her sister and brother-in-law, chris, more than her own father. She loved her sister, but she really missed her father.  
  
"You know, Dad is working really hard on this case. And I'm sure he wishes that he could be here."  
  
"Karen don't," Serena cut in. "He is always working now. He never used to be like that. It's always the same thing now. He calls and I get the 'I love you, stay out of trouble, help your sister, and I'll see you soon' speech."   
  
Karen started laughing,"Gee, I thought I was the only one that got that speech."  
  
Serena smiled at the comment. "Point taken. I just want him to be around a little more often, you know?"  
  
"I know exactly what you mean. And he will be. As soon as this case if over, we probably won't be able to get rid of him." Karen joked when she heard the doorbell ring.  
  
"Oh, that must be Todd. Is it 6:30 already, I'm not finished with my make-up, " Serena paniced.  
  
"Take your time sis, I'll go down and let him in. I have the 'so you want to date my daughter' speech to give him that Dad made me memorize. Always the conversation starter."  
  
"Karen, please don't! Don't be a Scott Baldwin re-incarnate." Serena pleaded.  
  
"Serena, relax. I"m not Dad." she said turning to leave for the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A young man stood at the door in a handsome white tuxedo and a bouquet of yellow daisies and white roses, mumbling to himself rythmicly, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Baldwin. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Baldwin."  
  
Just then the door opened, "Hi, you must be Todd," karen greeted.  
  
Todd held out his right hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Baldwin."  
  
"Excuse me?" Karen replied stunned.  
  
"Um...I"m sorry...oh man, Mrs. Baldwin."  
  
Still shocked, Karen invited the young man into the livingroom.  
  
"I'm Todd, I'm here to escort your daughter to the spring formal."  
  
"Daughter?", Karen repeated with a laugh.  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Baldwin."  
  
"Miss...Todd. It's Karen. I"m Serena's older sister," she said offering her hand.  
  
"Oh man...I'm sorry. I knew I was going to screw up, " he confessed embarrassed.  
  
"Relax, Todd. Serena will be down in a minute." she said with smile.  
  
"Thank you," he replied as he noticed Serena descending the stairway. "Wow, Serena. You look beautiful."  
  
"Thank you, Todd," she smiled.  
  
Karen reached for the camara from the desk drawer "Okay, pictures. Dad will disown me if I don't get at least one picture."  
  
Serena and Todd posed for the pictures, as Karen finished the 'Baldwin Lecture.' "What time is the dance over?" She asked.  
  
"10:00 pm, Miss...uh...Karen," Todd answered.  
  
"Okay...do me a favor, be back by midnight," Karen requested.  
  
"Midnight?" Serena questioned "Dad usually only allows me 15 minutes to get home before he calls Mac."  
  
"Well Serena, that's the difference between me and Dad. I understand that everyone goes to Kelly's after the dance," she said smiling at her little sister.  
  
"Thanks, Karen," Serena said giving her a hug.  
  
"Have a good time and be careful" Karen said as she opened the door for the young couple.  
  
"Your sister is cool. I hope I didn't make her mad when I mistook her for your mom, " Todd announced as he noticed a car pulling in the driveway. "Is that your Dad?"  
  
"No, that is my brother-in-law Chris...You thought Karen was my mom?" Serena asked in reply.  
  
"Hi Serena...You take care of her, kid. That's the only little sister I have." Chris said winking. "Have fun...no drinking.'  
  
"Hi Chris...best behavior, I promise. And Karen already gave us the lecture." Serena similed.  
  
"Doesn't surprise me." Chris said walking into the firehouse.  
  
"As for you" she said turning to Todd; "Don't worry about my sister, she is used to it. With my Mom being dead and the 17 year age difference between us, we get that a lot."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Cute kid, " Chris said to himself, walking in the door "Karen! Karen!"  
  
"Oh, hi Chris, will you set the table? Your brother is going to be here in 15 minutes for dinner."  
  
"Since when is he coming to dinner?" Chris asked surprised.  
  
"Since I invited him and Eve this morning." Karen announced. " I thought it would be a nice evening with company older than 16."  
  
"Oh...okay." Chris replied. "I suppose a conversation about something other than the spring fling would be a refreshing change. However," he said pulling Karen into an embrace "an evening alone with my beautiful wife would be better." He teased as she broke free to answer the phone.  
  
"Hello"  
  
"Oh Hi Jack."  
  
"Oh...Okay, Jack. If you need anything, just call...bye." Karen said turning to Chris while cradling the phone. "Looks like you got your wish. Eve came down with the flu. They won't be able to make it tonight."  
  
"In that case, why don't we start with dessert." Chris wryly smiled at his wife as he pulled her out of the room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"This night has been wonderful, Todd," Serena exclaimed as they dance the evening away.  
  
"How could it not be, I have the most beautiful girl in the school on my arm." he said. "Why don't we go outside for a breath of fresh air."  
  
Walking out of the door, they found a group of friends discussing after the dance plans.  
  
"Hey Todd, you guys want to go to a party at Seth's?" Roger yelled to them across the lawn.  
  
"Sure, sounds great," Todd yelled back. "What do you say Serena?"  
  
"I don't know, Todd, I should really go home," she confessed although she really wanted to go to the party.  
  
"Oh come on, your sister said you didn't need to be home until Midnight," he reminded her.  
  
"Well...okay, you twisted my arm...let's go" she said as they walked towards the car.  
  
As they made their way through the crowd at Seth's house, they engaged in some small conversation with some friends before finally stopping to dance in the livingroom. "Hey, good to see you Todd...Serena!" Seth greeted. "Help yourselves to the bar. We've got it all."  
  
"Thanks Seth," Todd replied turning to Serena "Let's go get a drink."  
  
At the bar, Todd grabbed two beers handing one to Serena. "No thanks," she said shaking her head, "I'll just have a coke or something."  
  
"Oh come on, Serena, you want to have fun tonight don't you?"  
  
"Of Course, Todd, but if I drink that, my sister will smell it before I walk through the door.," she proclaimed.  
  
"Well here, then. Try this," he said handing her a shot of vodka. "It's like grain alcohol, you can't smell it on a person."  
  
Serena hesitantly took the shot downing it right away, coughing as it burned her throat. "Wow!" she exclaimed reaching for another one.  
  
As they continued to party hard.  
  
~*~ To be continued~*~ 


	2. Chapter 2

Down in Flames - Chapter 2 - The Next Day  
  
Serena looked at the clock four shots later and realized it was 12:30. "Todd..."  
  
"Hey Serena, what's up?" he replied.  
  
"It's 12:30, will you walk me home?" she asked.  
  
"Sure," he replied as he got her wrap and they stumbled their way to the door.  
  
As they approached the firehouse, Serena felt panic all over her body when she saw the lights were still on. "Oh God, I was hoping she would be asleep by now, " Serena mumbled more to herself than to Todd.  
  
"Don't worry, Serena, it's only a little after 12. I'm sure your sister will understand...we just got caught up in the party."  
  
"Caught up drinking, you mean...and you don't know my sister. She lays into my Dad for having a few too many drinks."  
  
"Yeah but your sister is home and your dad isn't...who would you rather deal with?"  
  
"My Dad." Serena replied bluntly.  
  
As they walked up to the front door, Todd peeked in the window and noticed both Chris and Karen asleep on the couch. He turned to Serena, "they're both asleep on the sofa, go in quietly and they'll never know." He smiled as he leaned in to kiss her goodnight. "I had a wonderful time this evening, Serena."  
  
"Me too." She replied smiling as she turned to enter the door; "Goodnight, Todd."  
  
"Goodnight...I'll call you tomorrow to see how you're doing," he said as he walked down the sidewalk back to the party to get his car.  
  
Serena quietly entered the house finding Karen and Chris asleep on the couch just as Todd had said. Determined not to wake them, she covered them with blanket, turned off the television, and turned down the lights as she made her way to her bed."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
As the morning spring sun beat through Serena's window, she rolled over and awoke with throbbing headache.  
  
"Oh man," she groaned looking at the clock. "11:45, oh I hope she left already. I can't deal with the 20 questions game. She is way too much like Dad," she mumbled as the stepped onto the balcony overlooking the livingroom. She didn't see Karen or Chris anywhere and she decided to get some juice before retreating for a hot bath.  
  
Serena entered the kitchen to see her sister rifling through her purse looking for keys. "Hey sleepyhead, how was the dance?" Karen asked looking up to see Serena coming in.  
  
"It was nice."  
  
"It must have been for you to sleep this late...Have you seen my keys?" Karen asked.  
  
Serena pointed to the keys sitting on the counter as she headed to the cabinet for a glass, "Over there."  
  
"Oh..thanks. I'm off to the hospital. Dad called last night, he'll be coming home this evening for a couple of days. He has another trip on Tuesday. He didn't give me all the details but he said he would be home around six. I'm working the 12 to 8 shift today, so I'll see you tonight," Karen explained while getting ready to leave.  
  
"Okay," Serena replied watching her sister go out the door. "I don't think that I have ever heard her talk so much," she said to herself as she began up the stairs for that bath that she promised herself. As the water ran, she fumbled through the medicine cabinet looking for anything that would ease her massive headache.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hey, Karen, running a little late today?" Eve asked as Karen entered the on call room.  
  
"Yeah, I slept horribly last night. Chris and I fell asleep on the couch," Karen began.  
  
"Hey, I don't want to know all the kinky details" Eve mused.  
  
"We were waiting for Serena," Karen retorted shooting a glare at Eve. "So how are you feeling today?"  
  
"Better than last night. At least I don't feel like I was hit by a truck anymore. I must have had some kind of 24 hour thing," Eve said.  
  
"As a doctor, is that a technical term?" Karen asked.  
  
"Sure...especially when the prognosis is that your best friend hasn't had a night alone with her husband in a month."  
  
"Thank you, Eve, I didn't even realize how much I needed that until last night. I can't wait until my Dad is finished with this case that keeps taking him out of town. I love Serena, but I am ready for my life to go back to normal," Karen confessed feeling guilty.  
  
"When is Scott coming home?"  
  
"Today. He'll be here for a couple of days and he has to leave again on Tuesday."  
  
"How is Serena handling this? They were always so close."  
  
"It's starting to bother her. It's tough to live the teenage years without a mother, let alone without a father around too. I'm trying to help her as much as I can, you know...trying to fill that void in her life. But to tell you the truth, I'm starting to feel the same way, you know? I don't know if I am doing things right. I'm starting to see my little sister in the same position I was in 12 years ago, Eve, and it's scaring the hell out of me. I don't want her to follow the same path that I took." Karen sighed, it felt good to finally get that off of her chest.  
  
"Karen, you not giving yourself or her enough credit. You didn't have an older sister to look out for you and you were 100% alone. She has a great role model to look up too. And look at it this way, she could be out fighting invisible tigers with Lucy." Eve said trying to make her smile.  
  
"I guess if there is a bright side, that would be it," she laughed. "Well I have an appointment to get to, thanks for listening Eve."  
  
"Anytime...I'll talk to you later, Karen" Eve said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Karen walked down the hallway toward Dr. Neuman's office. Just upon reaching her door, she ran into Chris.  
  
"Hey, Honey" Chris said startling her.  
  
"Oh," she jumped, "hi, I didn't expect you to be here."  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I knew your appointment was at 12:30 and I thought I would come by and keep you company, " he smiled.  
  
"How thoughtful," she said, smiling as they entered the office.  
  
"Good afternoon, doctors, " Dr. Neuman greeted. "Please come in and have a seat."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"I scheduled this meeting to discuss your test results," Dr. Neuman started. "The pain that you are experiencing is being caused by cysts on your ovaries. This is a common occurrance in young woman your age and it is really no cause for alarm. The easiest treatment is to simply put you on birth control pills, however there are other treatments that we can explore. Here is a pamphlet that explains all of the effective treatments. Explore each method and in seven months, we'll choose the one that is right for you."  
  
"Excuse, me," Chris interrupted, "seven months? Why not now?"  
  
"Simple, Dr. Ramsey, " she explained, "your wife is two months pregnant."  
  
"What!?!" they exclaimed in unison.  
  
"Two months pregnant, congratulations, "she repeated. "Why don't you two take my office for a minute to talk, on your way out, be sure to schedule a neonatal appointment."  
  
"I will, thank you Dr. Neuman." Karen replied still in shock.  
  
"Honey, I can't believe this, " Chris said hugging Karen. "This is wonderful. Oh...I love you so much."  
  
Karen began to cry "there is so much we have to do. We need to go shopping, turn the guest room into a nursery, we need a crib..."  
  
"Karen slow down. Let's just let the news sink in for a minute. We have plenty of time to get all of that done...I have an idea...why don't you take the rest of the day off. Go shopping with your sister or whatever it is that you women do. And tonight, we'll have dinner with your dad and Serena at the grille and give them the great news. Okay?" he suggested.  
  
"I'd love to Chris, but I'm on the schedule until 8."  
  
"Don't worry, I'll get Ian to cover. You just go have a relaxing day," he said.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes," he nodded kissing her on the cheek.  
  
"I love you, " she smiled as they left the office. 


	3. Chapter 3

~*~ Chapter 3 ~*~  
  
At the grille, Karen, Scott, Serena, & Chris had sat down for a nice dinner. It was the first time in two weeks that they actually had time to spend as a family.  
  
"So girls, fill me in...what happened around here while I was gone? Serena how was the dance?" Scott asked trying to start a conversation.  
  
"It was nice," she replied seeming to be uninterested in being there.  
  
"Just nice?" he asked glancing at Karen and back to Serena.  
  
"Scott, she looked beautiful and Todd was so handsome. But he was so nervous, I'm surprised they made it to the dance in one piece." Karen joked and Serena just looked at Scott with a small smile.  
  
Realizing Serena wasn't interested in making conversation, Scott turned his attention to Karen and Chris. "What about you two? What's new in your world?"  
  
"Well, you're going to be a grandfather..." Karen replied nonchalantly.  
  
"What?" Serena exclaimed.  
  
"A grandfather? How did that happen?" Scott asked clearly letting his shock overcome him.  
  
"Do you really need her to answer that?" Chris remarked.  
  
"I'm due December 12th. We just found out today and we wanted you to hear it from us first." She smiled.  
  
"Wow. I'm going to be an aunt. Congratulations." Serena said getting up to give her sister and Chris a hug.  
  
"Congratulations, indeed" Scott said "I'm gonna be a grandpa...oh my little girl...truly all grown up."  
  
"Dad, please. Not the mushy stuff in public." Serena pleaded, "can't you gush over her at home?"  
  
"Have you picked names? Is it a boy or a girl? Do you need anything? Just name it...I'll get everything that you need. I'll start the paperwork for a..."  
  
"Slow down, Scott." Karen interrupted.   
  
"Now I know where you get it," Chris mumbled to himself remembering that Karen did the same thing.  
  
"We have enough time to get answers to all of these questions," she said. "I'm not sure that I want to know what the sex is. At least not with the first child, it ruins the surprise."  
  
"Trust me there will be a lot of surprises that will go along with this kid," Scott teased.  
  
As they were finishing dinner, Chris' pager went off. "Oh...it's the hospital...Excuse me."  
  
"While I have my two beautiful daughters alone," Scott began, "I want to thank both of you for being so understanding and taking care of each other while I've been away. It looks like Tuesday's trip is the last one that I am going to have to make and I'll be gone until Sunday. The trial starts next week."  
  
"You not going to know how to act once the trial is over and you will be home all the time," Karen teased.  
  
"Well I'm hoping to get to spend some time with my girls," he smiled. "You have some vacation time coming up, right?"  
  
"Yeah both Chris and I have two weeks off at the end of June," she replied.  
  
"Perfect. I took the liberty of making reservations at a certain Florida resort for those two weeks...for me and my girls." He said, "ah...and the lug head can come too. All expenses paid, my treat."  
  
"Oh Scott...I don't think..." Karen started.  
  
"What? You can't spend quality time with your old man and your sister? I want to take my family on a wonderful vacation. I have never done that for either of you...so now I am," he said stopping her mid sentence hoping a guilt trip would make her agree.  
  
"Hi, honey," Chris said returning to the table. "I have to go to the hospital. Come on, I'll drop you at home on my way."  
  
"Ah...Chris...I'll take her," Scott offered.  
  
"Okay then, I'll see you at home later. I love you."  
  
"I love you too," she replied.  
  
"You girls ready to go?" Scott asked laying cash inside the billfold with the check.  
  
On the ride home, Scott and Karen engaged in some small talk about the baby. He was so excited. As they pulled up to Karen's place, Scott thanked her for staying with Serena. "I feel more at ease knowing you two are together and safe. I love you sweetheart. You know that don't you?" he said.  
  
"Your welcome, it's not a problem Scott. I love you too." She said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the ride home."  
  
"If you need anything, you call me. Think about the trip to Florida, okay? And take care of that little one."  
  
"Okay" she replied placing her hand on her abdomen. "I'll see you tomorrow...bye sis."  
  
"See ya, Karen," Serena said as Scott began to drive off.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Serena was standing at her locker between classes with her friend Jessica as Todd and Seth approached. "Hey Serena, what's happening?" Todd asked hugging her from behind. "Did your Dad leave for his trip today?  
  
"Yeah he did...why?"   
  
Grinning at Seth and raising one eyebrow he proposed an idea to Serena. "What do you say we skip our afternoon classes and relax at your house then...your sister is at work, right?"  
  
"That sounds like a great idea, Serena!" exclaimed Jessie. "Come on let's do it."  
  
Serena didn't answer. Instead she turned to her locker and placed her algebra book inside and began looking for her biology book.  
  
"Come on, Serena...it's the last couple days of school. We're not doing anything here." Seth pleaded nudging her with his arm trying to convince her.  
  
She look at Todd who was smiling, "Alright, Alright...we'll meet in the park in 20 minutes," she said closing her locker.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Serena and Jessica were standing by the fountain waiting for Todd and Seth to arrive. Unbeknown to them, the boys were hiding in the bushes behind them. When Serena turned her back to them, Seth jumped out of the bush grabbing her from behind and placing his hand over her mouth. In defense, Serena stomped on the instep of his foot and twisted his arm behind his back. "I swear you're an idiot," she said before pushing him to the ground. Jessie and Todd teasingly laughed at Seth "bet you'll never do that again." Todd said chastising Seth.  
  
"Where did you learn that?" Seth asked jumping up.  
  
"From my sister...her ex-husband is a cop."  
  
"Geez, you nearly broke my arm," he complained embarrassed as they all walked to the Firehouse.  
  
It only took a couple of minutes to walk from the park to the firehouse. As they approached Serena looked around to make sure Karen had left for work. Karen was working a 12 hour shift and Serena didn't expect to see her for the rest of the day.   
  
"Here we are...have a seat. Come on, Jess, let's get something to eat." Serena said walking toward the kitchen with Jessica.  
  
"Look at what I brought...a little something to spice up the party," Seth said holding up a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of Vodka and pulling a plastic bag with four marijuana joints in it out of his backpack "and a little dessert," he said placing the baggy in his shirt pocket.  
  
"Cool" Todd replied. "Hey Serena," he yelled, "you got any games around here?"  
  
"Yeah...in the closet by the door." She yelled back.  
  
Todd and Seth rooted through the closet pulling out a twister game. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Todd asked.  
  
"Oh Yeah...co-ed drunk twister."  
  
Just then the girls came back with some sandwiches. "Did you guys find something," Serena asked.  
  
"Sure did," Todd said holding up the alcohol as Seth set up the game.  
  
Jessica grinned at the boys, "cool count me in."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	4. Chapter 4

~*~ Chapter 4 ~*~  
  
At the nurse's station, Karen was finishing up some scut work, getting ready for rounds. "Hey beautiful...Come here often?" Chris greeted as he approached.   
  
"Oh...hi honey, just trying to get this stuffed finished." She replied as the phone rang again. "Uhh...I'm going to take that phone and throw it down the elevator shaft," she moaned in frustration.  
  
"Relax, I'll get it...Sixth Floor, Dr. Ramsey speaking...sure, she's right here...hold on."  
  
"It's Serena's school," he said handing Karen the phone.  
  
"Hello...this is Karen Ramsey."  
  
"Dr. Ramsey...this is Mr. Rico, the assistant Principal at Port Charles High School."  
  
"Yes, Sir, what can I do for you," she said.  
  
"I am calling in regards to Serena Baldwin. We have been trying to get a hold of her father to no avail and you are listed on her emergency contact form."  
  
"Our Father is out of town on business. Is there something wrong?" She asked.  
  
"Well, Dr. Ramsey, it seems your sister has skipped her afternoon classes and we have no record of her being signed out by a parent or guardian," he explained. "She is not on school grounds, therefore, I need to turn this matter over to her parents or the police."  
  
"With my father out of town, I am her guardian. I will take care of the situation. Thank you Mr. Rico," she said hanging up the phone.  
  
"What's going on?" Chris asked.  
  
"Serena skipped school this afternoon...Chris can you cover for me, I need to find her."  
  
"Sure go ahead. I'll handle things here.... where are you headed?" he asked.  
  
"The Firehouse." Karen said in a huff as she headed for the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At the firehouse, Serena and her friends were sprawled out on the floor. They just finished their game and the bottle of whiskey. Being able to hold their alcohol better, the two boys were more coherent than the girls. Seth reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the small plastic bag with the four joints wrapped inside. "Hey guys, I brought one more goody for the party," he said as he began to unwrap the plastic when Karen walked through the door. He quickly shoved the baggy under the couch cushion. But in his drunken haste, part of the bag was sticking out.  
  
"What the hell is going on here? Why aren't you in school?" Karen began to yell as she noticed the game and bottles.  
  
Jessie sat up and began to laugh "Serena, your sister's home!" she drunkenly announced.  
  
"Hey sis! Want some?" she offered picking up the bottle realizing it was empty, she turned it upside down. "Oh...sorry...some how it all went gone. What happened to the stuff in here?" she asked looking at Todd.  
  
"Serena, your drunk...go upstairs and sleep it off. Then we'll talk." Karen said turning her towards the stairs. "Now...you three...I'm calling your parents."  
  
As Karen began to thumb through the phone book for the kids phone numbers, Todd began to pick up the twister game. He kicked the box over toward the couch and plopped down next to it. Eyeing Karen as he hastily folded the game mat, he pulled the plastic bag from under the cushion and folded it into the mat just as Karen turned to pick up the phone to begin making the calls.  
  
"Mrs. Thompson...hi this is Karen Ramsey. Serena Baldwin's older sister...yes...I just arrived here at my Father's house to find Serena, your daughter, and two other friends drinking...Yes...I received a call from the school as well...Yes...Well my Father left for a business trip this morning...so I looked here first. No...I don't know where they got the alcohol. My Father doesn't keep it in the house. No...Thank you, I'll see you soon."  
  
"Karen finished the calls and awaited the arrival of the teens respective parents. The two boys sat quietly on the couch and Jessie was asleep on the floor. Karen looked disgusted at the boys. "So...where did it come from?" she asked.  
  
The boys looked at each other, each hoping the other would come up with an answer that wouldn't get them in more trouble. Todd just shrugged his shoulders and Seth put his head down and looked towards Jessie and mumbled, "I don't know." Trying to pass the blame to a passed out Jessie hoping maybe to get Karen off his back.  
  
Karen glanced at Jessie passed out not believing the answers that she had received. She was about to question them again when the doorbell rang. "Hello, please come in." she greeted to the group of parents on the doorstep. The boys remained on the couch as each of their parents began to grill them for answers.  
  
"Where is Serena?" one parent asked turning to Karen.  
  
"I sent her to her room to sleep it off. Nobody has offered me any information but here is what I found when I came in" she answered pointing to the empty whiskey bottle and partially full vodka bottle.  
  
"Did they get it here?" Another parent asked.  
  
"I don't think that they did...my Father doesn't generally keep alcohol in the house. I haven't questioned Serena yet, though. She could barely make it up the stairs let alone give me a coherent answer to any questions."  
  
"Well thank you for calling...we'll be in touch." Seth's father said to Karen.  
  
After everyone left, Karen sat down on the couch. She looked down at the twister game on the floor and began to think about the day. What was going on with Serena? She knew better than this. She knows the family history, all the struggles her grandfather and Rhonda went through. "She knows the temptations that mom and Lee struggle through everyday," she whispered to herself. "Mom..." she said again "Oh...god, what am I going to tell Scott? How am I going to tell Scott?" She picked up the twister game and took it upstairs with her as she went to check on Serena, unaware of what was really inside the game. 


	5. Chapter 5

~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~  
  
Serena awoke to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing. She let out a groan as she rolled over to turn it off. After laying there for a couple of minutes, she finally got up and made her way to the bathroom for a hot shower. At least her head wasn't hurting as bad as it was the last time. Although, she couldn't remember much from the day before. After getting dressed, she went to the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast.  
  
"Where's Chris?" she said to Karen as she got a bowl for cereal.  
  
"He left for the hospital already." Karen replied coldly.  
  
"Are you working 12 to 12 again today?  
  
"No, actually, I'm off today." Karen said watching Serena sit down to eat her cereal. "So you want to tell me what happened yesterday?"  
  
"There's nothing to tell." Serena replied.  
  
"Nothing to tell?!? ... Serena... I get a call from the school and I come home to find you and your so-called friends drunk in the living room. I think there is a lot to tell."  
  
"We skipped classes, came here and drank a little. We got caught. We were wrong. It won't happen again." Serena promised. "Trust me...not if these headaches are the results."  
  
"Serena, you need to understand that this is not a way to have fun."  
  
"Karen, spare me the lecture..." Serena said as she got up to place her bowl in the sink.  
  
"Serena, no. I spent most of my teenage years taking care of my drunk mother. I'm not going to stand by and watch my little sister do the same thing."  
  
"Karen, I'm not your mother. I tried drinking one time and I've got the headache to prove it. That hardly makes me an alcoholic. I told you...it's not going to happen again. Stop over-reacting." She yelled, grabbing her bag and leaving for school.  
  
"Serena...this isn't over yet" Karen shouted back. She sat down and tried to figure out what was going on. She was confused to say the least. Maybe she was overreacting, she thought. Every kid tries drinking. It only happened once. Maybe she and Serena can just sit down later and talk everything out. She grabbed her purse and left for the hospital for her checkup.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
At school, Todd and Jessie approached Serena who was at her locker going through her books. "Hey Serena, what did you get from Rico?" Todd asked.  
  
"Four days of after school detention."  
  
"Yeah...us too." Jessie said. "So, Karen let you out of the house, huh?"  
  
"Yeah. My parole officer thinks I'm turning into her lush of a mother."  
  
Todd looked at Serena with a very surprised glare, "Your mother is an alcoholic...I thought you said she died?"  
  
"No, you idiot...my sister's mother...you know...same father, different mothers." Serena corrected sarcastically.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I'm sure she isn't going to waste any time telling my dad what happened. Then the warden will rush home and be all over my back." She said.  
  
"Hey, you know...I put the 'dessert' inside the twister game. I tried to get it in there before your sister saw it." Todd told Serena.  
  
"Thanks. The game was on my desk this morning; she must have put it there last night. I'll take care of it when I get home." She finished as the bell rang for class.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
At the hospital, Karen had just finished her check up and was looking for Chris.  
  
"Hey, how did the checkup go?" Chris asked as Karen approached the nurse's desk.  
  
"Good...everything is okay." She said sounding depressed.  
  
"If everything is okay, why do you look like you're about to break down?" he asked.  
  
"I'm worried about Serena."  
  
"Oh...I take it that things didn't go well this morning."  
  
"Hardly...I accused her of turning into an alcoholic." She confessed. "At least that is the way she took it, anyway. And I have no idea what I'm going to tell my dad."  
  
"Karen, don't you think you're overreacting a bit. I mean all teenagers drink at least once during their high school career. Call Scott, tell him what happened and let him deal with it."  
  
"That's your answer? Just call my dad and let him deal with it...I can't do that Chris. Yeah maybe I am overreacting a little. But I also remember coming home everyday to find my mother passed out or to sick to walk to the bathroom." She argued.  
  
"Karen, that was a different situation..." he began.  
  
"A different situation? My mother started drinking when she was a teenager in high school. And what happened? She ended up a drunk single mother...I don't want that to happen to my sister."  
  
"Somehow I don't think this is about your mother or your sister." He tried to point out.  
  
"What is that supposed to mean?" she questioned.  
  
"Serena is not your mother and she is not you. She experimented with her life a little. Ground her for a week, tell your dad and be done with it...." He said looking at his watch. "I have to start rounds...I'll see you later." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and walk down the hallway.  
  
"Uhh...men..." Karen groaned tuning around to leave and nearly running into Gail.  
  
"Karen...hi..." Gail greeted.  
  
"Oh...hi Gail. I'm sorry."  
  
"That's okay...having a rough day?" she asked looking very concerned for her granddaughter.  
  
"You could say that."  
  
"Well, why don't we go get some lunch and we can talk about it? My Treat." Gail offered.  
  
"Thanks Gail...but..." Karen began.  
  
"Don't but me...come on...how often do I get to take my granddaughter out to lunch." She urged linking her arm with Karen's as they moved toward the elevator.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Karen and Gail sat at the Recovery Room enjoying a light lunch and some conversation. Gail could tell something was eating at Karen. She could read Karen like a book. Gail had helped Karen through some of the roughest times of her young life and over the years they had created a tight bond. Karen knew that she could tell her grandmother anything and would always receive the utmost support. Although she didn't always take her up on it.  
  
"So...you want to tell me what is bothering you?" Gail finally asked Karen.  
  
"What makes you thing that something is bothering me?" Karen asked in reply.  
  
"Honey...come on...I know you better than anyone. I can tell just by looking at your face that something is not quite right. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to...but I'm always here to listen." She said obviously concerned.  
  
"Well...as always...your right...I'm worried about Serena." Karen finally confessed.  
  
"Serena...why did something happen?"  
  
"Yesterday, her and some friends skipped school and spent the afternoon at the firehouse. When I received a call from the school...that is the first place that I looked for them."  
  
"And what did you find?" Gail inquired.  
  
"I...um...walked in on Serena and her friends drinking in the living room."  
  
"Drinking...Serena?" Gail was very shocked. "She knows better than that."  
  
"I know...I tried to confront her about it this morning but we just got into an argument and she walked out."  
  
"Did she tell you where they got it?" Gail asked.  
  
"No, we didn't get that far...but...one of the had to bring it with them. Scott doesn't keep it in the house for obvious reasons."  
  
"Did you call your father and talk to him about this?"  
  
"No...not yet...I don't know how to tell him. I'm afraid of how he will react." Karen confessed taking a drink of her Iced Tea.  
  
"Well. He'll react the way he always does at first..."  
  
"Yeah...I know...that is what I'm afraid of..."  
  
"But then he'll calm down and approach it rationally." Gail said trying to console Karen.  
  
"Yeah...Rational for Scott is to storm in and shoot now and shoot some more and then when everyone is 'dead' try to ask a question or two." Karen said sarcastically with a smirk.  
  
"Okay...your father is just a little protective of you girls. But I can't say that I blame him." Gail said smiling affectionately at Karen; then looking down at her watch. "Oh dear...I need to get back to the hospital for an appointment. Thank you for joining me. I love you sweetheart."  
  
"I love you to...thank you for lunch and the advice." Karen said giving her grandmother a hug.  
  
"Anytime, honey, you know that you can always talk to me." 


	6. Chapter 6

~*~ Chapter 6 ~*~  
  
"Here we are!" Scott announced opening the door to the firehouse. He was back early from his trip, which turned out to be more successful than he had hoped. He had easily convinced his key witness to return to Port Charles with him. As long as he could provide excellent security for her while she was in town. With that in mind, he offered for Janelle to stay with him at the firehouse. This way he could supply the security that she requested and he could keep her under his watchful eye at the same time.  
  
Janelle entered the house right behind him. "Wow, what an interesting place you have here." She remarked.  
  
"Well you know me...I like unique...what other people don't have. " He grinned. "Let me show you around." He said picking up her bags and giving her the grand tour.  
  
"So...tell me...why do you have all of this security?"  
  
"Well...I guess you could say I'm an overprotective father. Actually, my late wife left my daughter quite a large bit of money and when she was younger she was kidnapped over that money. I never really felt that she was out of danger so I installed the best." He explained.  
  
"Oh...I see" she said, not knowing what to say.  
  
"And knowing that I have this set up, makes me feel better when I'm not here." He added.  
  
"So this is where you will be sleeping, please make yourself at home. I need to make a few phone calls and get everything in order for the trial. If you need anything, just press the intercom button marked office. I'll hear you." He explained leaving her to settle in.  
  
"Thank you...I'm just going to settle in and maybe watch the news" she said. Janelle unpacked the few bags that she had brought with her and retreated to the kitchen for a drink. After getting a large glass of water, she sat on the sofa to watch the news. That was a trick that she had to learn about any new town that she visited.  
  
Karen pulled into the driveway shocked to see Scott's car there. "I wonder why he is home so soon" she thought to herself. Hoping that he was in a good mood considering the news she had for him. However, she was more than shocked when she entered the firehouse to see a strange woman sitting on the couch flipping through the newspaper and glancing at the television every now and then.  
  
"Hello?" Karen said glancing around for her father.  
  
"Oh...Hi...I didn't hear you come in" the woman said and then mumbled under her breath "I thought he said this place is secure... Hi, I'm Janelle..."she began but was interrupted by the sound of the slamming of the back door.  
  
"KAREN!" Serena yelled moving from the kitchen to the living room. Only noticing Karen in the room, she began to speak her mind.  
  
"What did you do, call him as soon as you saw that I was home yesterday? You had to make sure he had enough time to get back here so that he would be here when I got home?" Serena accused.  
  
"Serena...now is not the time" Karen said trying to get her to notice Janelle.  
  
"Wow...does he have you trained well...Little miss perfect." She still hollered.  
  
"Serena...I don't now what you are talking about...but right now is not the time to discuss this." Karen tried to remain calm but her voice was getting louder and louder.  
  
"Yeah...Right, Karen...Like I'm supposed to believe that. I'm not as stupid as you were."  
  
"Oh yeah...your sure not being to convincing of that right now." Karen yelled back.  
  
Janelle just stood off to the side and watched the show. She had no idea who these women were or why they looked ready to tear each other apart. However, she was beginning to have doubts about staying there during the trial.  
  
As Serena and Karen continued to argue, Scott finally came up from the basement office.  
  
"What the hell is going on here?" he shouted trying to get the attention of his daughters. "Karen, Serena...that is enough." He yelled again as they still continued their confrontation. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"  
  
"Why don't you ask Dr. Perfect over here...she's the one trying to run my life," Serena shouted to her father.  
  
"Dr. Perfect...cute Serena...you're the one who came in here throwing accusations at me based on your assumptions...I'm not even close to running your life...but I don't want to see you get hurt or worse...dead." Karen replied with a calmer but still raised voice.  
  
"You don't know..." Serena began.  
  
"Don't even say it, Serena...you're that one that doesn't know."  
  
"THAT'S ENOUGH...BOTH OF YOU GO TO YOUR ROOMS." Scott shouted. Instantaneously, both girls stopped their argument and looked at Scott.  
  
Realizing what he said to get their attention, he quickly corrected himself, "Serena, go to your room. Karen...go to the kitchen. I want to talk to both of you. I don't know what is going on here but I am sure as hell going to get answers from you two."  
  
Serena turned and went upstairs in a huff and Karen grabbed her purse and was heading to the door and out to her car.  
  
"Whoa...Karen...I said the kitchen...here, not yours." He said approaching her and grabbing her hand. "Move it...I'll be in there in a minute."  
  
Karen didn't say a word; she just crossed the room to the kitchen to await her father. Scott turned to Janelle, "I'm sorry. I have no idea what has gotten into those two."  
  
"You know...I can stay at the hotel...I don't want to cause problems here." She said.  
  
"No, you're not causing a problem. There is obviously something happening between them that needs to be resolved." He said. "They have never acted that way towards each other."  
  
"No need to apologize...but may I ask...who are they?" she said but then seeing the look on his face she began to back track. "I'm sorry...it's none of my business."  
  
"No no it's okay. They are my daughters. Karen is my oldest and Serena is the epitome of the rebellious teen," he tried to explain.  
  
"Why don't I let you have some time with your daughters? I'm going to take a walk down to the lake," she suggested.  
  
"Thank you" he replied as he headed to toward the kitchen.  
  
Karen was talking to Chris on her cell phone when Scott entered the kitchen. She quickly ended the conversation and turned her attention to her father. "So, who's they latest fling?" she asked sarcastically.  
  
"Karen, that's enough...you may be an adult and a doctor but I am still your father and I don't need this attitude."  
  
Karen was taken back by Scott's scolding. He had never showed his authority over her before. "I'm sorry...you're right...that was way out of line," she said trying her best to apologize to her father. "But still...who is she?"  
  
"That is Janelle. She is the key witness in my case. She is going to be staying here during the trial for security and safety measures," he answered. "Now do you want to explain to me what I just saw? You and your sister have never acted this way...what happened in the one day that I was gone?"  
  
"Serena and I haven't really been seeing eye to eye since yesterday," she said.  
  
"Well that's obvious, but why?  
  
"Well, yesterday I received a call from Mr. Rico. Serena skipped her afternoon classes with three of her friends and came here for a small party, a game of twister, and some whiskey."  
  
"Whiskey? No that can't be," he denied.  
  
Karen shook her head as she retrieved the empty bottle from the garbage.  
  
"Well, where did it come from? Why didn't you call me?" he questioned.  
  
"I don't know where they got it. Every time I try to ask Serena about it, she jumps down my throat and we end up in an argument like the one that you were just exposed to. I didn't want to call you until I had some answers. I was hoping that I could sit down with her when she got home today and figure this out rationally. But when she saw your car, she came in the house screaming at me for calling you. " Karen explained.  
  
"Who was here with her?" he asked.  
  
"Jessie, Todd, and some kid named Seth."  
  
"Did you talk to their parents?" he grilled.  
  
"The only thing that I told them was that you were out of town on business and as soon as you got back you would call them." She explained. "I can't do this again. I can't go through this with her. I don't know what triggered it but I can't go through the broken promises and fights. I can't watch her turn into what I was at that age" she confessed and began to cry.  
  
Scott pulled her into a hug. "Calm down honey...this isn't going to go that far. She has me and you to help her through this," he said trying to comfort her. But the truth was that he didn't know how to handle this either. The only time he dealt with anything like this was when Karen relapsed into drugs. But he just had to be support; Karen already knew how to solve the problem. "It's okay honey, we'll get through it. Why don't you go upstairs and lay down for a little while. I'm going to have a heart to heart with your sister," he said as he picked up the whiskey bottle and walked Karen upstairs to his bedroom. Karen laid down on the bed and closed her eyes as Scott covered her with a throw blanket and gently kissed her forehead. He stood in the doorway for a minute watching her fall asleep as he prepared to confront daughter number two.  
  
Scott took a deep breathe as he knocked on Serena's bedroom door. She had been sitting on her bed staring at the twister game nervously awaiting the wrath of her father. "Come in, "she said when she heard the knock.  
  
Scott entered the room holding the whiskey bottle behind his back "Hey, how ya doin'?" he asked bringing the bottle from behind. "Care to explain this?"  
  
"Why...I'm sure Karen told you all the details."  
  
"No...Karen told me what she saw when she came home and that she tried to talk to you but it always turned into an argument much like the one that I just witnessed," he said. "So, what do you say...why don't you give me the rest of the story?"  
  
"What's to say? We skipped school, we drank a little, and we got caught. We made a mistake. So punish me and let's get passed this," she said.  
  
"Where did it come from?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know. Jessie and I went to the kitchen to get something to eat and when we came back, Seth and Todd had it."  
  
"So, Seth and Todd brought it," he stated.  
  
"I don't know," she said looking down to the floor.  
  
Scott looked at Serena, realizing that he had to approach this in a different way. "Come with me," he said taking her by the hand and crossing the hallway into his bedroom. "Tell me what you see in here," he said quietly to Serena so as not to wake Karen.  
  
"What?" she question, "it's your bedroom?"  
  
"Yeah...but what do you see in here?"  
  
"Your bed, your dresser, your chair...I don't know."  
  
"Look closer," he urged.   
  
Serena stepped in to the room a little further and turned around to look at the room. "All I see is Karen asleep on your bed."  
  
"What did you say?" he asked.  
  
"Karen is asleep on your bed...so what," she repeated stepping back across the hall into her bedroom and Scott following.  
  
"Did you ever wonder why Karen was never around and you never met her until we moved to Port Charles? Or why Karen calls me Scott and not Dad? Or even why you two have different mothers?" he asked.  
  
"No not really..." she answered sitting down on her bed. "She was in med school living in San Francisco while we were in Canada, she was married."  
  
"That's true, but that's not the right answer. Karen is here and all that stuff happened because I was drinking one night and so was Karen's mother. And you know what? I didn't get caught until 18 years later when Rhonda told me about Karen. You see...Rhonda and I went to the Prom together and we were drinking...Hey we were having fun, you know...and that fun turned into us making love down along the river."  
  
"Dad, I don't want to hear this..."Serena interrupted.  
  
"No...you are going to listen to this...We were drunk out of our minds, we had sex, and we went our separate ways. We didn't love each other. But it didn't matter, we had fun that night. I graduated and went to law school. Rhonda quit school and moved to a shady part of town. Suddenly she found herself a single mother with no one to turn to. But you know what? That night...alcohol made everything okay. So she kept drinking. For the next 17 years...Rhonda was drunk and Karen was alone. Until this great guy took Karen in and gave her a pill to take away the pain. Didn't matter to me...I had a great Prom night, became a lawyer, married Dominique...I had a great life. One night I ran into Rhonda and we got to talking. I felt bad for her...so I tried to help an old friend by giving her a job. I thought it would help her and her young daughter. Rhonda still never said a word. Then your mother died, you were born, and I left town. I never gave Rhonda or anybody a second thought. Then...I don't know why...but Rhonda finally decided to tell me in a letter. Suddenly, I had two daughters. So I sent Karen a note and a check and focused my attention on you."  
  
"Why didn't you keep in touch with Karen?" Serena asked as she got up and went back to the doorway of Scott's bedroom.  
  
"Good question...Because I was afraid. I was afraid that Karen would blame me for everything that went wrong in her life. I was afraid to hear the words 'my mother was a lush because of you' or 'I never had a childhood because of you.' I couldn't bare the thought that my daughter might hate me. So I chose to leave well enough alone."  
  
"But she doesn't hate you dad."  
  
"No...no she doesn't...she loves me and she loves you too...and she is scared to death of what this one incident may turn into. She has lived that life and she doesn't want you to live it too." He paused as he took in Serena's expression. "You know...she never called me...she wanted to sit down and talk to you first. She wanted to understand the situation."  
  
"Oh..." Serena said. She was starting to feel really guilty. "I guess I owe her an apology."  
  
Scott nodded in agreement. "At least."  
  
"Dad...do you hate Rhonda for what she did?"  
  
"No, Serena...I was upset that she cut me out of Karen's life and I regret everyday that I missed with Karen. But she gave me a beautiful daughter and for that...I could never hate her."  
  
"I see..."she said smiling, realizing for the first time how much her dad loved her and her sister.  
  
"Think about it..."he said winking. "But don't wake your sister...I'll be downstairs...and by the way..."  
  
"Yeah Dad?"  
  
"You're grounded for three weeks," he said as he left Serena standing in the doorway of his bedroom watching Karen sleep. She never really understood the hardships that Karen had faced. Just that she had a hard life. But as she stood there and thought about Scott's story, she was finding a new appreciation for her older sister.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Serena stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the living room just in time to see Janelle walking through the door. She sat down next to the railing, eavesdropping on the conversation that was beginning between Scott and Janelle.   
  
"Hey, your back…did you enjoy your walk?" Scott asked when he saw Janelle enter.   
  
"Yes, it was beautiful. Do you go fishing in the lake down there?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah…I go down there a lot to unwind. I even managed to get my girls interested in fishing. Worms and all," he said smiling at the thought. They were both unaware of Serena sitting on the balcony. Nor did they notice Karen behind her with her arms wrapped around Serena giving her a gentle hug.   
  
Serena turned her head to look at Karen and whispered "I'm sorry…" Karen smiled and whispered "me too." Karen had heard the entire conversation between Serena and Scott. It took everything that she had to lay still and pretend to sleep. She had never heard Scott open up like that and she just wanted to reassure him that she didn't blame him for anything. The sisters exchanged a look and as if they were reading each other minds; nothing more needed to be said between the two.   
  
"Did you get things straightened out with them?" Janelle asked trying not to get too personal. They were both sitting on the couch and Janelle was in the position that she finally saw the girls at the top of the stairs.  
  
"I hope…I have never seen them fight like that. They have such a strong bond and love each other so much that seeing that was like sticking a knife in my heart. I don't know…how do you make your kids understand?" he asked shaking his head.   
  
"I think they already do." Janelle said tapping him on the shoulder and pointing to the balcony.  
  
Scott turned to see Serena sitting on the balcony with Karen behind her with her arms still wrapped around her little sister. A big smile painted his face at the sight as the girls said in unison "Hi, dad." 


	7. Chapter 7

~*~ Chapter 7 ~*~  
  
Janelle was beginning to become a permanent fixture around the Firehouse. After two months, the trial had come to a close and the jury was in deliberation. The verdict was going to come in any day and Janelle would be free to leave. Scott found himself fighting his feelings for Janelle. He had promised himself that he wasn't going to fall for her, but it was too late. Each day he was growing more and more dependant on her and she quickly became more than a client. To Janelle, the feeling was mutual. She felt happiness with Scott that she hadn't felt in a long time. She just didn't want to leave.  
  
Scott was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper when he heard the front door open. He lowered the paper just enough to peek over the top to see Karen coming through the door. "You're early," he said lifting the paper up again.  
  
"Yeah, good morning to you too, dad," she replied walking over to join him on the couch. Since the day Karen overheard the conversation with Scott and Serena, she no longer felt uncomfortable about calling him dad all the time, instead of just when Serena was around.  
  
"I'm sorry honey...Good Morning...where's Chris?" he asked folding the paper and placing it on the coffee table.  
  
"Oh, he was called to the hospital and since my car is in the shop, he dropped me off...so are you ready to go?"   
  
"As soon as Serena comes down...He doesn't mind that you're going furniture shopping without him?"  
  
"No, actually, I think he prefers it. If he's not there then he doesn't have to make any decisions. Typical man." She said with a smirk.  
  
"Hey, hey...watch it there..."  
  
"What? Are you really defending Chris?" she asked with a shocked expression.  
  
"Well...us men have to stick together, you know. We have to make sure that you women don't go overboard spending our money."  
  
"If you didn't want to worry about money, then you should've had boys."   
  
"Now you're starting to sound like Lucy," he said teasing her.  
  
Karen just smiled and changed the subject. "Where's Janelle?" she asked.  
  
"She went for a walk. She walks down to the lake every morning."  
  
"So how are things going with you two? You seem to be getting rather chummy with her, lately."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, knowing full well what she meant.  
  
"Dad, come on...you haven't been this happy since you were married to Lucy...just follow your heart. Did you ask her out yet?"  
  
"No," he said jumping to his own defense but then coming to terms with the idea. "I don't what to say."  
  
"Gee, that's amazing..." she began "Scott Baldwin at a loss for words towards a beautiful woman, I never thought I would see the day."  
  
"Never thought that you would see the day for what?" Janelle asked coming through the door. "Hi Karen."  
  
"Hi...I was..." Karen greeted.  
  
"Nothing..."Scott interjected. "How was your walk this morning?" he asked changing the subject.  
  
"Invigorating!" she gasped. "So, dragging the old man out shopping today, huh?"  
  
"Yeah...unless..."she said turning to Scott "Dad just wants to give the me the credit cards..." she said flashing him a big smile and then turning back to Janelle.  
  
"Not a chance...my daughter and my credit card is a dangerous combination," he joked, hugging her from behind.   
  
"Janelle, why don't you come with us...three women and the man with the money." Karen offered.  
  
"Sure...sounds like it will fun." Janelle said.  
  
Scott picked up the phone on the table "Serena...Karen's here...let's go...Hi Jessie..."  
  
"Okay...I'm coming...I'll call you when I get home Jess." Serena said over the phone.  
  
"Jessie, huh?" Karen said to Scott with a disappointing look on her face. Karen didn't really approve of Serena's choice of friends lately; she saw them as nothing but trouble.   
  
"Yeah...she's coming over later to spend the night...I don't think they'll get into to much since Janelle and I will be here," he said. Noticing the expression on Karen's face he summed up the discussion by turning her attention to the shopping trip.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"How many times have we been to this store today?" Scott asked with amusement. He was enjoying spending the time together and listening to Karen, Serena, and Janelle discuss every detail of the baby's nursery.  
  
"This is the last time, I promise. I think, I've decided on the light oak set. That will be the best match for the crib set that Serena picked," Karen said as then entered the store. All three women left Scott behind as they went straight to display.   
  
"Hi," a store attendant greeted to Scott. "You're back."  
  
"Yeah...she claims that she decided," he replied with a smirk as they walked over to join the group.  
  
"Is this the one you want, honey?" he asked Karen.  
  
"Can you mix the sets?" she asked the attendant "because I would like this crib, with that armoire and 4 drawer chest."  
  
"Uh...no...we don't mix sets," the saleslady admitted.   
  
"Then we'll take them both." Scott said determined that Karen would get what she wanted.  
  
"Dad, that's not necessary," she started.  
  
"No, Karen," He said turning to the saleslady "what my daughter wants, my daughter gets. Besides, what you don't want we'll put at the firehouse," he finished reaching for his wallet, just as his cell phone rang. He handed his wallet to Karen, "take care of the details while I take this call." She nodded as she took the wallet and walked to the sales desk.  
  
"Baldwin...now...okay, we're on our way," he said finishing up the phone conversation and joining Karen. "Everything set? Deliver that to her address," He said. With the details finished, Karen and Scott joined Serena and Janelle. "The jury has reached a verdict, we need to get to the courthouse," he said to Janelle. "Serena, I'm sorry but Jessie isn't going to be able to come over tonight."  
  
"What? Why?" she asked upset.  
  
"Because, I am not going to be there," he said with authority.  
  
"Wait...you just bought half of Port Charles for Karen...what happened to what my daughter wants, my daughter gets?"  
  
"Serena, I'm not going to argue about this with you."   
  
"Dad..." Karen interrupted, "I'll stay there with them. Chris is working tonight and I was just going to work in the Nursery. I just spend the night. That way, I can walk to the garage in the morning to pick up my car."  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked knowing how Karen felt about Serena's friends.  
  
"I'm sure...we'll have a girls night." She said smiling.  
  
"Okay then, I'll drop you two off at the firehouse." 


	8. Chapter 8

~*~ Chapter 8 ~*~  
  
"This isn't fair..."Jessie started as she searched through Serena's closet for anything new that she hadn't tried on. "You get all these great clothes for free...I am so jealous."  
  
Serena just shrugged as she watched Jessie. "Hey, grab that yellow top...that's new" she said. Jessie reached in to get the top but found the hanger was stuck on a clip on the behind shelf. She reached in to release the hanger when she knocked the twister game off the shelf. They both looked at the game for a second and then Jessie brought up the item that they were both thinking about. "Is it still in there, Serena?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, it is. I forgot all about it..."   
  
Jessie picked up the game and sat on Serena's bed. She began to unpack the game and quickly found the plastic baggie that contained the four marijuana joints that Todd put in there to hide from Karen. "What do you say, Serena? Wanna try it?" she asked raising her eyebrows and smiling.  
  
"No...no way...I'm not touching it. My sister is downstairs, my Dad and Janelle could be back any minute. No..."Serena replied.  
  
"Fine, do what you want...I'm gonna try it. Is your candle lighter still in the desk drawer?" she asked walking toward the desk not waiting for Serena's response. Serena jumped up to stop her just as she heard the doorbell ring downstairs. "Come on, Jess. Karen ordered some pizza, let's go get something to eat."  
  
Jessie watched Serena leave the room. She tucked the joints in the desk drawer and followed her downstairs.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hi Neil..." Karen said as she pulled a $20 bill out of her jeans pocket.  
  
"Hi Karen...it's $16.32...is Serena home?" He asked handing Karen the pizza and a bottle of soda trying to glance over her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah...she's..."she began being interrupted by Serena and Jessie clumping down the stairs.  
  
"Hey Neil...I didn't know you were working tonight...."   
  
"Yeah...I'm trying to get as many hours as possible over the summer, so that I can save up some money." He explained. "Well, I have two more deliveries waiting, I catch you guys later."  
  
"Bye Neil..." Serena said turning her attention to the pizza on the table. "Mmm...yummy."  
  
"Yeah...pizza delivery by Neil Scanlon. He probably spit in it or something." Jessie remarked with a wicked grin.  
  
Serena picked up a slice of pizza and threw it onto Jessie's plate. "Just shut up and eat it. You know he wouldn't do that. What is you problem with Neil anyway?"  
  
"He's just a freak." She replied.  
  
Serena shook her head with disgust and began eating. She looked up to notice Karen going through the desk drawers. "Aren't you going to eat?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah...in a minute."  
  
"What are you looking for?" Serena asked puzzled.  
  
"Dad's address book. Have you seen it? I need Aunt Millie's and Uncle Jay's address. I want to send her a 'Thank you' note for the gift she sent."  
  
"Why don't you just call Grandma? Grandma will be able to give you the address, write the note, send it, and receive a reply all before you even come close to finding Dad's address book."   
  
"Thanks. You're a lot of help." Karen retorted shooting a snide look at her sister. "But I need it to start making the guest list for the baby shower too."  
  
"Well, if you're just going to sit there and go threw Dad's desk drawers, then we're going back upstairs. C'mon Jess."   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Serena and Jessie were sitting on the bed finishing their pizza, engaging in some small Girl talk. "So when are you and Todd going out again?" Jessie asked winking.  
  
"I don't know, he hasn't called me or anything since school was out."  
  
"Maybe he's grounded for the summer." Jessie said. "I know Seth really got it for that day we skipped."  
  
Serena got up and moved across the room to get her candle lighter. As she pulled it out of the drawer she pick up the joints and handed them to Jessie. "Here. Get rid of these. I don't even want them in my room. The last thing I need is for my Dad or Sister to find it." She said while lighting the candle on her nightstand.  
  
She turned around to see Jessie with a joint in her mouth and reaching for the lit candle. "Jessie! When I said get rid of it, I didn't mean smoke it!"  
  
"Oh, lighten up, Serena!" She said with a giggle "No pun intended." She said as she lit the joint and took a puff.   
  
Serena hurried over to the window to open it and turned on the fan in the corner, hoping that the fan would push the smell out through the window. "Oh this is so good, Serena, you've got to try this." Jessie said giggling.  
  
"No way...." Serena said. Even though she was starting to get giddy by the second hand smoke that she was inhaling.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Downstairs Karen was still routing through the living room looking for the address book. She glanced around the room and found one drawer that she hadn't looked in. She opened the drawer to find a couple of cloth place mats folded neatly on top. As she dug below the place mats she felt something cut her hand. "What the heck does he have in there?" she asked to herself. After pulling her hand out of the drawer, she looked to see what she had cut herself on. She only found a broken picture frame with an old picture of Lucy it and the broken glass lying on the top. She closed the drawer, retreating to find her doctor bag to clean and examine her injury. "Oh crap...this is going to need stitches." She said to herself, trying to determine how she was going to get to the hospital. Scott had the car and hers was in the shop for repair. She looked at the pizza on the table and suddenly remembered that Jessie had come over and her car was outside.  
  
Karen went to the intercom and pushed the button for Serena's room. "Serena..."  
  
Jessie looked up at the ceiling feeling the effects of the joint she started to smoke. "Serena your room is talking to you." She said.  
  
"Huh."  
  
"Your room it's talking to you...listen"  
  
"Serena...turn down the radio and answer me." Karen said again through the intercom.  
  
"Oh...it's Karen," she said going to the intercom. "What's up?"  
  
"Serena, I cut my hand and it needs stitches. Can you and Jessie come down? I need Jessie to drive me to the hospital." Karen explained.  
  
"Sure we'll be down in a minute." Serena turned to Jessie. "Put that thing out. We need to take my sister to the hospital. Are you okay to drive?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I only took one puff." She giggled as she crushed out the joint and tossed it out of the window. Serena blew out the candle and they went down to meet Karen.  
  
"What did you do?" Serena asked looking at Karen's hand.   
  
"Eew...that's looks nasty." Jessie said digging her keys out of her pocket. Karen just looked at Jessie for a minute then turned to Serena. "I cut my hand on a broken picture frame in the drawer. Is she okay?" Karen asked.  
  
"Yeah...she just on the giddy side tonight. She was up there teasing me about Todd and laughing at her own jokes" Serena lied.  
  
"Oh...okay...well let's go before I bleed to death here." Karen said looking suspiciously at Jessie.  
  
They pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road toward the hospital. As a car approached in the dark, in her impaired state, Jessie thought it was going to hit them head on and swerved to miss a collision. 


	9. Chapter 9

~*~ Chapter 9 ~*~  
  
"What have we got?" Eve yells noticing the paramedics bringing a young woman into the ER on a gurney.  
  
"Automobile versus a tree. Blunt trauma to the head. BP 132 over 85. Appears to be about 6 months pregnant. Laceration on the right hand."   
  
Eve follows the paramedics into trauma room too. "On three. Oh my god...Karen...One. Two. Three. Get Dr. Jones in here now. Who's the OB on duty? Fihtrauma panel and check a hemocube. Get an ultrasound. We need to set up for a chest tube right away. Get her on 10 liters blood mass."   
  
"We got the ultrasound. Hemocube's 13.4 and nine inch abdominal bleed on mom." Bobbie said in response to Eve's orders.  
  
"How about the baby?" Eve asked.  
  
"25 weeks size. Good Cardiac activity....hold on..."  
  
"What?" Eve demanded.  
  
"There...a clot." Bobbie said pointing to the ultrasound.  
  
"Oh my god...where the hell is Dr. Meadows?" Eve demanded.  
  
"Abruption?" Bobbie asked.  
  
"Could be. Twelve milligrams of betametasone now. Two large bore I.V.s, squeeze in a saline."   
  
"Got it."   
  
"Is she stabilized?" Dr. Meadows asked entering the trauma room.  
  
"She's stabilized. But the baby's heart rate is dropping. We're going to have to take the baby."  
  
"Who's next of kin?" Dr. Meadows asked.  
  
"Chris Ramsey is her husband. He's in Surgery. Went in about an hour ago." Eve replied.  
  
"He's too far in. We can't bother him now. Who's next?" she asked.  
  
"Her father, Scott Baldwin."   
  
"Find him. We need a release signed." Dr. Meadows demanded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Scott and Janelle sat in the courtroom watching as the Jury entered one by one. As the jury took their seats, the judge banged the gavel and things began.  
  
"Has the jury reached a decision?" Judge Belgan asked.  
  
Juror #1 rose out of his chair "we have your honor." He said handing a slip of paper to the bailiff. Scott's attention then turned to another bailiff that entered the courtroom and handed a slip of paper to the judge.   
  
Judge Belgan read the jury's decision and returned that slip of paper to the jury. Then read the other paper that was brought in. "Juror #1, please read your decision."  
  
"We the jury find the defendant guilty on two counts of murder."  
  
The sounds of the courtroom got loud as everyone gasped at the verdict. "Order. Order in the court." Judge Belgan announced banging the gavel. As the courtroom quieted down, Judge Belgan began to make his judgment.  
  
"Due to circumstances beyond the control of the court, I am granting a continuance until tomorrow at noon. Upon that time, I will post sentencing. Counselors, would you please approach the bench."  
  
Both Scott and the defense attorney approached Judge Belgan confused and wanting to question the continuance.  
  
"Your honor..." the defense attorney began but was interrupted by Judge Belgan.  
  
"Counselor, relax...Mr. Baldwin...I hate to be the barer of such news, but it has been brought to my attention that you are needed in the emergency room of General Hospital. Your daughter has been in an automobile accident."  
  
"What? Oh my god...Which one?" he began to panic.  
  
"I have not been given that information. Can you have someone from your office available to appear in court tomorrow at noon?" the judge asked.  
  
"Uh Yes. Yes I can. I'll make those arrangements."  
  
"Good, there is a police escort waiting to get you to the hospital quickly and safely. Court is adjourned." The judge announce as Scott ran out of the courtroom with Janelle quickly following.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Scott burst through the emergency room doors, running up to the desk with Janelle desperately trying to keep up to him.   
  
"I'm Scott Baldwin, my daughter was in an accident, where is she?" he demanded. The nurse at the desk began to answer when he heard a small scared voice behind him.  
  
"Daddy?" Serena said. Scott turned around to see Serena standing before him with some cuts and bruises with one tear running down her cheek.  
  
"Oh my god, Serena are you okay. What happened?" he asked pulling her into a hug.  
  
"Daddy, it's Karen..." she managed to squeak out between sobs.  
  
"Karen? What is wrong with Karen?" He asked as Dr. Meadows and Eve approached him with a clipboard in hand.  
  
"Mr. Baldwin, I'm Dr. Meadows..." she began.  
  
"Where's Karen, what's going on? Eve?"   
  
"Mr. Baldwin, you daughter is in serious condition. And requires surgery."  
  
"Surgery? What kind of surgery? Why aren't you giving me any answers?" he shouted.  
  
"Scott..."Eve began "The accident has cause damage to the placenta of the baby causing it to bleed. Which could cut off oxygen to the baby. We have to do a c-section to remove the baby, before we lose it."  
  
"Lose the baby? She is only six months pregnant...it's too early." He said in a panic.  
  
"Scott, the baby's heart rate is dropping, if we don't take the baby we will definitely lose it and maybe Karen. We are giving her steroids to help the baby's lungs. Once we remove the baby, we will incubate it and hope for the best." Eve explained. "Time is of the essence Scott. We need you to sign the release now so that we can try to save them both."  
  
"Where's Chris? He's her husband and the father, he should be making this decision." He said.  
  
"Chris is in surgery, he went in awhile ago, he is the head surgeon on the case, we could not pull him. You're her father, you have to sign." Dr. Meadows explained.  
  
Scott took the clipboard from Dr. Meadows and signed the form. He put his head down in his hands and began to cry. Janelle put her arms around him and tried her best to comfort him. "This baby is all she wanted. How could I sign a paper to let them take it?" he sobbed.  
  
"Scott, if they don't take the baby, they could lose them both. At least this way there is a chance to save Karen and the baby."  
  
"Dad?" Serena said approaching Scott, afraid to ask about Karen. "Is she okay?"  
  
Scott jumped up and pulled Serena close to him. "No honey, not yet. They took her into surgery, they have to take the baby." He explained holding Serena tight to him.  
  
"Dad, what does that mean? It's not time for the baby yet."   
  
"Serena, the accident caused a rupture that will cut off oxygen to the baby. If they don't remove the baby, they both could die." He explained.   
  
Serena just turned her head away from her father and tried not to cry. "Serena, what happened? Where were you going? You were supposed to be at home the whole night." Scott question.  
  
"Jessie and I were upstairs, when Karen called over the intercom. She cut her hand looking for your address book. She said it needed stitches and that she needed Jessie to take her to the hospital. The next thing I remember was a car coming toward us and Jessie swerving." Serena explained crying harder and harder. "Dad, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...she can't die!"  
  
"It's okay, Serena, it's okay." He said hoping that he wasn't lying. 


	10. Chapter 10

~*~ Chapter 10 ~*~

Scott watch through the window as the nurses settled Karen in her room after the surgery.  He stared at his motionless daughter with tears in his eyes as he tried to make sense of everything that Tony had told him about the surgery.

"You may go in now, Mr. Baldwin," a nurse announced as they exited the room.  Scott glanced at Janelle and Serena talking in the waiting room then went in and took a seat next to his oldest daughter.  Trying not to cry, he took her hand in his and began to talk to her as if she were conscious and could hear every word.

"Hi honey, how are you feeling? I guess that's a stupid question huh?" he began. "Tony said that the surgery went well honey.  I'm sorry Karen…I had to sign the paper. I had to let them take the baby.  I couldn't let you die." Scott was holding her hand tight as her stroked her hair with the other hand as a single tear ran down his cheek.

"Your baby is upstairs, honey. You have a little girl, as beautiful as her mommy…I'm not going to lie to you Karen, it's going to be touch and go for her for a little while.  She's fighting, but she's weak.  They had to put her on a ventilator to keep her breathing. Her little lungs aren't fully developed yet. So you have to wake up. You have to wake up, so that you can be here for her."

As Scott held her hand and gave her all the details about her and the baby, a large circle of light, unable to be seen by Scott, appeared near the ceiling, but it reached into eternity.  Karen's spirit got up out of her body, starting from her head. She was drawn by the warmth and light upward into this tunnel. The light was goodness. But for some reason she had a stronger pull towards her father.  She stood behind her father and look down at her motionless body.  She laid her hand on his shoulder as she hung on to every word he said.

"I called your mother. She'll be here soon.  You can't leave me Karen…"he said between tears. "It isn't going to be like this. You listen to you're father and do what you're told. You are going to wake up. You're not going to leave me.  I am not going through this again. It was hard enough with Dominique; I won't accept it from you…" He, then, looked up to the ceiling as if he was looking into heaven "Dominique, change their minds, don't let them take my little girl…" he said laying his head down on her bed.

_"You remind me so much of him…It's hard to see him like this, isn't it?"  A voice said.  Karen turned to see who was behind her that could actually see her_.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Serena!" Rhonda called as she hurried down the hallway. As she got closer, she reached out her arms to give Serena a hug. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, comparatively," Serena answered. "Dad is in with Karen, I'll let him fill you in.  They just brought her into her room about 20 minutes ago." She said walking into Karen's room with Rhonda.  Janelle followed them, but stopped just outside of Karen's room. She watched through the window as Scott jumped up and hugged Rhonda.  Scott held Rhonda tight as she began to cry in his arms.  As Serena slipped out of the room unnoticed, she turned to Janelle "C'mon, they need some time to be alone," she said to Janelle never explaining who Rhonda was.  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

_"Dominique?" Karen said as she turned. "Am I dead?"_

_"No honey… Not yet. You have to cross over before that'll happen" Dominique answered with a smile as she linked her arm with Karen's_

_Karen turned away from Dominique, "So did they send you to make sure that I cross?"_

_Dominique chuckled slightly "No, my dear, you'll have to decide that on your own. I don't think I could stop you from doing what you really wanted to do anyhow. You are a Baldwin after all." Dominique took a stance next to Karen, both looking at Scott quietly praying to himself over Karen's bed ridden body. "I came because HE asked me to. I came because he can not stand to lose another woman that he loves."_

_Karen looked lovingly at her parents. They were sitting next to Karen's bed. Rhonda laid her head on Scott's shoulder. Scott had his arm around Rhonda, holding her tight._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Janelle and Serena walked around the corner, they found Jessie in the waiting room looking for Serena.

"Serena, how's Karen?" she asked.

"She's out of surgery, but she is still on a ventilator. We're just waiting for her to wake up and breathe on her own," she answered. "I need some fresh air, Jess, let's go outside for a walk." 

"So, Jess, how are you?" Serena asked as they exited the hospital and began to walk towards the park.

"I'm fine, just some cuts and bruises."

"Just some cuts and bruises" Serena repeated. "Just some cuts and bruises…my sister is in there fighting for her life. She might die, the baby might die…and you just have some cuts and bruises." Serena began to sob uncontrollably.

"Serena, calm down…it was an accident."

"An accident that happened because you had to smoke that crap!" Serena yelled.

"I didn't see you stopping me."

"Yeah, like you would have listened to me." Serena retorted. "And then you went and got behind the wheel of a car and drove me and my sister into a tree!"

"Serena, I'm sorry for the accident, I would change it if I could…but if you would have told your sister the truth in the first place, she would have taken the keys and driven herself to the hospital."  Jessie yelled at Serena as she walked away from her in a huff.

Serena turned and yelled "You're the one to blame for this, Jessie, not me."  Serena began to walk back to the hospital when something caught her eye.  She stopped to get a better look, only to see Seth and Todd leaning in the window of a black Cadillac parked just at the edge of the park entrance. She couldn't tell for sure, but it looked like they had handed the driver a wad of money. Shaking her head and brushing off the site, she went back to the hospital to be with her family.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In disbelief, Chris hurried down the hallway toward Karen's room still dressed in his surgery scrubs.  As he reached her room, he stopped short at the door.  He peered in the window to see that his worst fears had come true.  His disbelief turned to shock as he slowly entered the room and made his way to Karen's beside. After Rhonda greeted him with a hug, he reached for Karen's hand and sat down next to her bed.  Scott moved behind Chris and laid his hand on his shoulder for a minute then turned to Rhonda "C'mon Rhonda, let's go check on Serena and the baby," he said taking her hand in his.

Chris remained silent as tears gently rolled down his cheeks.

"What are you doing, Karen?" Chris finally said.  "Well…I know what you're not doing…you're not going to die on me.  We have a little girl to raise…did you see her Karen?...she's beautiful.  She looks like you. Come on Karen, you have to wake up. You have to get through this.  I can't raise this little girl on my own…"

_"Is that Chris?" Dominique asked of Karen._

_"Yes…"Karen said as a smile came across his face. _

_"I bet it was love at first site, right?"_

_"Hardly, when Chris and I first met, we couldn't be in the same room together without getting into an argument." _

_A smile painted Dominique's face as she began to laugh, "Wow, now that sounds familiar," she said._

_"What…why?" Karen questioned confused._

_"When your father and I first started working together, all we did was argue."_

_Karen looked at Dominique with a surprising look. Was this the same Dominique that was Scott's one and only true love; she thought to herself._

 _"Really? To hear dad tell the story, he would have you believe that you two fell deeply in love the first time you laid eyes on each other." _

_"Well it was anything but that.  We first started working together at Deception. He was quite the businessman.  Somehow, he and Julia Barrett had convinced me to be the 'face of Deception.' Scott and I ended up fighting everyday with Julia trying to be the moderator between us."_

_"When did everything change between you?" Karen asked with obvious interest in Dominique's version of the story._

_"One day, Scott came to work in his brand new red sports car. He had no interest at all in working that day. He was so excited.  He asked Julia and I to go for a test drive, but Julia declined.  I on the other hand…I was willing to take an hour and have some fun before a day of make-up and photo shoots. We got in the car and began to drive. The next thing I know, we were waking up in a hotel room in Las Vegas…I had no memory at all of what happened. Then I found the marriage certificate with our names on it.  Horrified, I went over to him and kicked him to wake him up…"_

_"You kicked him?" Karen asked enjoying the story._

_"I kicked him, handed him the certificate and asked him to explain. Our argument quickly turned to a fight, ending with me walking out of the room.  About an hour later, I came back to room and Scott handed me a videotape and asked me to watch it.  He went for a walk while I watched the video.  As I watched the tape I began to realize my true feelings. Especially, when I reached the vows.  Did Scott ever tell you what he said, when he recited his vows?"_

_Karen shook her head._

_"He said 'Please, promise me that you'll never, ever leave me; because I hate being left'_.  _After that, we drove back to Port Charles in silence, but we were both thinking the same thing... 'Wouldn't it be nice…?'  But when we got back I asked him to start the divorce proceedings immediately and he did.  While we waited for the divorce papers to go through, he began to work on me to stay married.  He had begun to open up to me and the more I learned about him, the more I fell for him. Finally, one night he came over for dinner and the next thing I know, he was waking me up with breakfast in bed.  Chipped beef on toast." She said with a smile. "It was all over from there."_

_"And to think of the grief that he gave me when I married Chris..." Karen started shifting her attention to watch Chris as he talked to her still body._

_"He's not Chris' biggest fan, I take it?" Dominique asked._

_"No, far from it." Karen answered as she moved behind Chris and hugged him from behind.  Chris moved his hand up to his shoulder as if he could feel her arms around him._

_"No one will ever be good enough for one of Scott Baldwin's daughters.  But he will accept it, none the less, as long as they're happy." Dominique reassured her with a smile._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey…" Janelle said walking into Karen's room to find Chris and Rhonda engaged in a light conversation. Janelle set a bag of clothes on the bed as she turned toward Chris.  "We took a ride to the firehouse to freshen up a little.  Scott thought you might like a change of clothes, so we stopped at your place as well."

"Thank you…that was very thoughtful.  Where are Scott and Serena?" he asked looking over her shoulder for them.  

"Oh…they went across the street to pick up some sandwiches for everyone…they'll be back shortly."

Chris finally arose and stretched his legs a little.  He leaned and gave Karen a gentle kiss on her forehead before taking the bag of clothes.  "I'm going to the on-call room to take a hot shower, I'll be back soon," he told Rhonda as he left.

An uncomfortable silence fell in the room, until it was finally broken by Janelle. "How's Karen doing?" she asked Rhonda.

Rhonda let out a sad sigh. "The same" she answered followed by a long pause. "I'm sorry, I don't believe that we have been formally introduced…I'm Rhonda…Karen's mother. And you are…"

"Oh…I'm Janelle, I've been living with Scott for months now." She said with a demeaning tone.  "I was under the impression that Scott's wife was dead.  So where do you fit into the puzzle?" 

"Well, I don't feel the need to explain my relationship with my daughter and her father to you…especially since Scott never mentioned that he was even seeing somebody…" Rhonda retorted.

"Oh… I'm sure that there is probably a lot that Scott has never mentioned to you."

"Well then, I guess we could call it even." Rhonda said as Scott walked through with a bag of food. He barely got the word "hello" out of his mouth before Janelle wrapped her arms around him and kissed him passionately.

"Wow…"he said "we'll save that conversation for later on."

_Dominique turned to Karen with a disgusted look on her face "Do you really want to leave your father alone to fend for himself with these two woman?...For the rest of his life?" she asked._

_"Good point," Karen said returning the repulsed look. "THAT was just…EEW."_

"Hey lover boy…" Rhonda said with an amusing chuckle getting Scott's attention "where did your youngest child disappear too?"

"Huh…oh yeah…she ran into Jessie downstairs, I told her we would let her know if there was any change." He pulled a sandwich out of the bag and tossed it to Rhonda, "Here have a sandwich."

"No thanks…I can't eat…I'm not hungry."

"Now Rhonda…" he began as his cell phone began to ring. "Oh…what now. Baldwin…what…now…I'm in the middle of…Oh alright, I'm on my way." He said finishing a conversation with Mac. "I have to go to the police station, I'll be back soon.  Call me if there is any change," he said to Rhonda as he left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Serena had finally caught up to Jessie outside around a remote corner of the hospital. 

"Jessie…" she called "what are you still doing here?"

"I'm waiting for my mother to get off of work…I thought you were mad at me?" she questioned pulling another joint from her pocket and lighting it.

"What the hell are you doing, Jessie? After everything that is happened, you're going to smoke another one?"

"Oh, stop it with the 'holier than thou' attitude, Serena.  You're not entirely innocent in all of this" Jessie said taking a puff.

"No, I'm not, but I am smart enough to stay away from this stuff now."

"Well then, I guess you're not interested in having the last one," Jessie said as she pulled another joint from her pocket.

"The last one? I thought there were four? How many have you smoked?"

"This is only the second," Jessie said as she started to feel the effects. "I must have dropped the other one somewhere. Here Serena, take it, it'll make you feel better."

Serena swiped the last joint from Jessie's hand and held it up between her thumb and index finger. She began to rub her fingers together crushing the joint and spreading the contents all over the ground.  "THAT…is what I think of your last one," she said with anger as the walk away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Scott walked into the police station looking for Mac, when he saw Seth and Todd sitting next to a desk in handcuffs.  He was about to question them as Mac came through the door.

"What are these two doing here?" he asked Mac.

"We just picked them up for possession" he answered.

"Possession? Possession of what?"

"This" Mac said throwing a bag of Marijuana on the counter. Scott stared at the bag for minute and then looked at the boys.

"Get 'em outta here, I'll deal with them later," Scott said sitting down with a thud next to a desk. He held his head up with his hand as he rubbed his forehead.

"These boys may be able to provide us with a lead on this new stream of drugs coming into town." Mac suggested sitting down next to Scott.  When Scott didn't respond, he looked at him a little closer. "How is Karen doing?" he asked.

Scott finally broke from his expressionless stare "The same, we're still waiting for her to wake up."

"What about he baby?" Mac asked.

"The baby is so small.  1 pound 9 ounces. She is on a ventilator and they are giving her steroids to help her lungs develop faster. She's in an incubator, you can't hold her, or touch her, or anything.  They say that we can't compromise her immune system," he explained visibly disturb by the turn of events.

"They'll be okay, Scott. The world can't stand to lose such a great person and doctor" he tried to reassure Scott. "There is something else bothering you.  What is it?"

Scott shook his head and turned away from Mac trying not to show his emotions. "Where did you pick those boys up at?" he asked trying to get his mind on something else.

"The corner of Oakdale and Wilna Streets," Mac answered.

"Oakdale and Wilna? That is on the other side of Charles Street. What were they doing over there?" he asked. "That isn't anywhere near their houses…" he commented as he sat and thought a minute. In that moment, it hit him "but that is about a half of block from the Thompson's…" he said aloud to himself. "Mac, I want you to search Jessica Thompson's car."

"We'll have to get a warrant for that…it's on private property"

"No, not the new one…the car she was driving when the accident occurred," Scott explained.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 "Karen," Dominique said linking her arm with Karen's once more, "it's time for me to go. You need to make your decision. Karen, if you decide to stay, will you give your father a message?  Will you tell him that 'I never left. I'll love him…always…everywhere?"

_Karen nodded as she looked into Dominique's eyes._

_"Follow your heart, Karen. You will make the decision that is right for you." Dominique said as she disappeared into a bright, tranquil light.  Karen gave both her mother and Chris a gentle kiss as she walked over to her bed and placed her hand on her still body._

Dr. Jones entered Karen's room with a somber look on his face. "Chris," he said, "it has been 24 hours with no response and she is still on life support."  Tony paused a moment before he continued. "I'm sorry Chris, but she has a DNR on file."

Chris let out a small sigh. "I know," Chris said as he looked at Rhonda.  As tears ran down both of their cheeks, Chris gave Karen one last kiss. "Turn it off," he said to Tony as he walked out the door.  


	11. Chapter 11

~*~Chapter 11~*~  
  
"Well, if it isn't Frick and Frack," Scott said walking into the interrogation room.   
  
The boys sat there silently as Scott pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards. Scott pulled the baggie of weed from his inner coat pocket, and flopped it down on the table "So are you two going to tell me this was for Science class or something?"   
  
Todd shuffled uncomfortably in his chair, "Umm no Mr. Baldwin sir, ahh..."   
  
Seth, being much cooler then Todd interrupted, "Ah...come on, it's just pot. It's not like it's anything hard or anything."  
  
Scott pushed back from the table angrily, and walked over to Seth. He leaned down so his face was mere inches from that of Seth's, "I wouldn't be so nonchalant about all this, pretty boy." Scott lowers his voice to barely over a whisper "You're going to Sing Sing, you do know what they do to pretty boys in Sing Sing, don't ya?"  
  
Scott backed off from Seth, as he heard Mac walking in the direction of the interrogation room. Scott smiled as the door slowly crept open, "Ah, Commissioner Scorpio, did you bring me a present?"   
  
Mac reached into his pocket, and pulled out a plastic evidence bag with a joint in it and handed it to Scott. "Is this what you sent me to find?"   
  
Scott turned back to the boys, "So boys, do you want to guess where we found this little gem?" Scott turned away from the table to peer out the room's window. "We found it in Jessie's car...you know...the one that she was driving when she put my daughter in a coma!"   
  
The door to the interrogation room flew open, as a frantic desk clerk burst into the room. Scott turned around to face the clerk "What is it now, don't you see we're busy in here?" The clerk paused a moment, before he answered nervously "Sorry, sir, but we just got a call from GH, they're taking Karen off of life support." Scott chinned dropped. He was visibly shaken by the news. Once in his life he couldn't imagine having any kids, now he couldn't stand the thought of losing his oldest child. Scott turned back to the boys "You better hope she lives, or you'll both fry!"   
  
As Scott rushed out of the door, Mac watched the two boys for a minute. "Do you two know what involuntary vehicular homicide is?" he asked with a pause "If I were you, I would call your lawyers."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Scott rushed into Karen's room where Tony was writing notes on her chart. "Get away from my daughter, Tony..."   
  
Rhonda grabbed Scott's arms in an attempt to calm him down, "Scott..."  
  
Ignoring what Rhonda had to say, he pushed her off of him and continued toward Tony, "You're not turning off anything. You're not going to kill my daughter..." he said in his rage.  
  
"Scott, Karen had a DNR in her file...She doesn't wish to be kept alive," he began to explain to Scott.  
  
"I don't care if she has the Declaration of Independence in her file..."  
  
"Scott, SCOTT..."Rhonda said taking hold of him and spinning him around to make him look at her, tears running down her face. "Scott. There is nothing more that they can do. She signed the DNR."  
  
"No...Rhonda...no, how can you give up on our daughter like that?"   
  
"I'm not giving up, Scott. I'm respecting her wishes."  
  
Reluctantly coming to terms with the decision, Scott turned to Tony "so what is going to happen when you turn that off?" he asked.  
  
"We ran one final EEG test to determine if there was still brain activity."  
  
"Well, what does that mean?" Scott asked.  
  
"According to the test, she does have brain activity. With that in mind, when we disconnect the ventilator, it all will be up to her a that point. She will either begin breathing on her own, or...."   
  
"she'll die..." Chris finished Tony's sentence as he entered the room with tears welling up in his eyes.  
  
Scott looked at Rhonda and then Tony with rage burning inside of him, trying not to let it show. "I need to find Serena first, she's going to want to see her sister one last time."  
  
Tony nodded as Scott ran out of the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rhonda stood off to the side of the room for a minute and watched as Chris sat next to Karen's bed holding her hand. She finally moved to Karen's bedside and gave her a gentle kiss. "I'm sorry Karen," She said with tears building up in her eyes. "I'm sorry for every moment of your life that I screwed up. I love you." She said then left the room to give Chris a few final minutes alone with his wife.  
  
"Well Karen..." Chris began once he was alone. "Oh. This is killing me Karen. What right do you have to do this to me. I hope you realize what you're doing here. You're leaving that little girl's future in the hands of me and your father." Chris turned his head a way for a moment choking back the tears. "I took out all the pictures of our wedding day. I needed to see your smiling face. You we're so happy. Happy ever after. Please tell me that this is not real, Karen. I can't find a reason to let go, Karen. But you signed that damn paper. YOU SIGNED THAT DAMN PAPER!" he shouted, sobbing uncontrollably.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Scott turned around hearing Chris' shout. He ran up to the Karen's door, but was stopped by Rhonda. "Get out of my way, Rhonda," he urged trying to push her off to the side.  
  
"No, Scott..."  
  
"I need to be in there..."  
  
"No you don't, not right now..."  
  
"But she's my daughter. Now get out of my way..."  
  
"But Chris is her husband. Give him the time that he needs."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I wake up, crying at night, Karen. Screaming your name. I'm sorry, sweetheart. I love you...." Chris looked up at Tony with tear filled eyes. He nodded to let Tony know that it was time.  
  
Tony turned off all of the machines and removed the chest tube. As Karen's chest stopped rising and dropping, Chris put his head down as he realized she did not start breathing on her own.   
  
Through the window, Scott noticed that Tony had turned everything off. As he looked at Chris, he also realized that Karen did not start breathing on her own. "Nooo..." he screamed finally pushing Rhonda out of his way and bursting into Karen's room. "TURN THAT BACK ON, TONY. NOW!" he shouted running to Karen's bedside reaching for her hand. As he turned to argue with Tony, he felt a slight pressure on his hand. He quickly turned back to Karen to witness her body jump slightly as she grasped for air and began to breath. 


	12. Chapter 12

~*~ Chapter 12 ~*~  
  
Chris lifted his head when he heard the gasp. He stared at her for a minute almost in disbelief. Karen moved her head from side to side, although still asleep. Chris, finally being able to move, began to check her vitals.   
  
"Karen…" Scott said. "Come on Karen, time to wake up."  
  
"Don't push her, Scott…she started breathing and she is responsive. She'll wake up soon enough," Chris encouraged. "I'll be back in a minute."   
  
Chris walked over into the waiting room where Rhonda, Serena, and Janelle were sitting anticipating the arrival of bad news. He paused in the doorway for a minute, to see Serena lying on the couch with her head on Rhonda's lap. Rhonda tucked Serena's hair behind her ear with one hand as she tried to hold her own head up with the other.   
  
Serena slowly sat up when Chris walked in and stood in front of them. When Serena moved, Rhonda also looked up expressionless at Chris, expecting the worst. A smile slowly crept over Chris' face, "She's responsive and breathing on her own…" he said. Overjoyed at the news, both Serena and Rhonda jumped up and hugged Chris so hard that he almost fell over. "You can both go in…" he said and followed them through the door towards Karen's room.  
  
"Dad…" Serena said as she and Rhonda entered.  
  
Scott jumped up as the saw them. "Come in, come in…" Serena sat down next to Karen and held her hand as Scott and Rhonda stood behind her. He looked at Rhonda and smiled, "she's going to be just fine." Rhonda smiled as she rested her head on Scott's shoulder.  
  
Janelle stood outside of Karen's room peering through window at the close-knit family.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Scott was alone, with Karen, slouched in a chair next to her bed. Now that she was off of life support and responsive; everyone tried to bide their time while anxiously awaiting for her wake up. Rhonda and Serena walked to the park to get some hotdogs for everyone from the park vendor; while Chris took a brief break to check on some patients and Janelle went to the cafeteria to get Scott some coffee.  
  
Karen began to stir in her sleep as she moved her head from side to side again. "Dominique…" she whispered although still sleeping. Scott sat up quickly and reached for her hand. Karen's eyes fluttered and soon opened completely. She looked over to see Scott sitting next to her.  
  
"Dad…" she said.  
  
"Yeah…" he said smiling and leaning close to her. "How's my little angel?"   
  
"Sore." She said with a smile turning to confusion as she began to look around the room for the baby. A look of panic came across her face. "Daddy…" she said with fear as she began to cry.  
  
Scott quickly jumped up and hugged her gently. "It's okay, honey…shhh…it's okay, she's upstairs…"  
  
Karen was sobbing too hard to listen to Scott. "Daddy, my baby…Dominique said she would be okay."  
  
He pulled away from her to look her in the eyes. "Dominique?" Scott repeated puzzled. "Karen, listen to me…"  
  
"Daddy, what happened to my baby?" she continued.  
  
"Karen…listen to me…" he said again finally getting her attention. "The baby is upstairs. She's fighting, honey. She's small, but she's a fighter."  
  
Finally hearing what Scott said, she calmed down a bit, but began to try to get out of bed. "I've got to see her…I've got to go to her."   
  
"Whoa. Hold on there, Karen. You need to rest. She is being taken care of. I promise you, honey, as soon as you are strong enough to get up, I will take you up to see her. But right now, you need to rest."  
  
Karen looked at her father and finally accepted what he was saying. "Is she okay?"  
  
"She will be honey. She's very fragile, they have her on a ventilator and they are giving her something to help her lungs develop. She's in an incubator," he explained trying to comfort his daughter.  
  
Karen laid back on her pillow and turned her head away from Scott. She closed her eyes and tried not to fear the worst.   
  
"Hey," Scott said curious. "Why don't you tell me about that dream you were having."  
  
"What dream?" she asked confused.  
  
"You were dreaming in your sleep, honey. You were talking about Dominique."  
  
Karen sat up again and began to look around the room. "What are you looking for?" Scott asked.  
  
"She was here." Karen explained. "She was right here."  
  
"Karen, are you okay?" Scott was starting to get worried. "What do you mean she was here?"  
  
"Dad, she stood right there and told me that everything was going to be okay." She looked deep into her father's eyes and smiled. Scott hung his head down, as thoughts of Dominique came flooding back to him. "It was a dream Karen…" he said with sorrow in his voice.  
  
"She said to tell you that she never left." Karen started placing her hand on his.  
  
"What?" he asked looking up at her.  
  
"Your wedding vows." Karen said as matter of fact. "You told her to promise that she would never leave, because you hate being left. She never left, Dad. She said that she loves you…always…everywhere."  
  
Scott looked at Karen with confusion filling his body. "How do you know all of that? I never told you any of that."  
  
Scott and Karen exchanged a look that needed no further explanation. He pulled her close to him and hugged her. He kissed her head and looked up to toward heaven. "Thank you, Dominique…"he whispered. "Thank you."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rhonda and Serena entered the hospital returning from their walk to the park. Rhonda saw Janelle walking around the corner seeming to be yelling at someone on her cell phone. She handed the hotdogs to Serena, "Take those to your Dad. I'll be up in minute." Serena nodded and took the bag. Rhonda was beginning to have suspicious feelings about Janelle. As she approached Janelle to confront her and maybe put her suspicions to rest, she overhead Janelle's part of the conversation.  
  
"I'm telling you, don't worry about it…His daughter has been in a coma for days, he has been a bit preoccupied…No the kids won't be a problem either."  
  
Rhonda turned and headed back to Karen's room, before Janelle could realize that she was there. But it seemed that Rhonda's instincts were more accurate that she had originally thought.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Hey, look who's awake!" Rhonda said entering Karen's room. She went straight to Karen to give her a hug. "How do you feel?"  
  
"I hurt." She said point blank then smiled. "But, I think I'm going to live. Dad, was just sitting here telling me some stories of years gone past."  
  
"Oh. Great. I don't think that I'm going to ask," she said shaking her head then turning to Scott. "Scott, can I speak with you a minute outside?"  
  
As Scott and Rhonda exited the room, Serena looked at Karen, "I wonder what that's about," she stated.  
  
Karen eyed her parents with suspicion, "I don't know," she replied.  
  
"What's up, Rhonda?" Scott asked.  
  
"Scott…um…how much do you really know about Janelle?" she hesitantly asked.  
  
"Where is this coming from?"  
  
"Scott, I know I have no business interfering in your life, but there is something about that woman that isn't right."  
  
"Your imagination is working overtime, there, Rhonda?" he began when his cell phone rang. "Baldwin…okay Mac, I'll be there soon." He said pushing the end button on his phone. "I've got to go to the police station. I'll be back as soon as I can."  
  
"Okay…"Rhonda nodded. She turned to enter Karen's room when she almost walked into Serena who was nervously standing in the doorway listening to Rhonda and Scott's conversation. "Oh, I'm sorry, Serena." As she looked closer at the girl, she couldn't help but to inquire "Are you okay?" Serena nodded and let her pass into the room. 


	13. Chapter 13

~*~ Chapter 13 ~*~  
  
Mac was standing a watchful vigilance outside the interrogation room, when Scott arrived. "The boys' lawyer has arrived; they're inside waiting for you."   
  
Scott pushed open the door. The expression drained from his face turning to an expression of disgust, as he saw who the boys had hired for their council. "Ah. Hell. I should have known it would be you. What are you doing here, Alexis. Let me guess, their OTHER personalities bought the drugs, or even better, the butler did it."   
  
Alexis just stood there, with her normal 'I'm not amused' expression. "My clients are prepared to fully admit their guilt." Scott dramatically turned, "Oh, now there's a novel idea, someone was arrested around here and they're actually guilty for a change."   
  
Alexis ignored Scott's dramatics, and continued, "They are prepared to plead guilty, in exchange for a lighter sentence."   
  
Scott turned back around and glared directly at Alexis, "Not a chance. Frick and Frack there are going to do some serious time in Sing Sing for what they put my family through."   
  
Alexis turned slightly, and picked up a folder. "Wouldn't you rather prosecute the dealers rather then the teenage boys who made a bad choice? In this folder is information regarding the dealers, locations of the places that the boys have bought drugs, and the boys will co-operate with police by willingly volunteering to give any other information that is needed, as well as ID-ing, and testifying against the real criminals here."   
  
Scott looked over Alexis's shoulder at the two boys who are sitting quietly, and very politely, allowing Alexis to do her job. He snatched the folder from Alexis's hand, "We'll think about it, but if these leads don't pan out, I guarantee you that these two will have a long, educational stay at the state pen."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Karen and Rhonda were discussing the details of the baby and the long path to recovery to which she is about to embark. Karen looked up to see Serena standing in the doorway staring at the busy nurse's station. "What's going on?" Karen asked Rhonda as she nodded in Serena's direction. Rhonda just shrugged and shook her head in response to the question. "Can you give me a minute with her, please, mom?"   
  
"Sure, honey?" Rhonda answered and left.  
  
"Hey sis, is there a cute guy standing at the nurse's station with his shirt off or something?" Karen jokingly asked.  
  
Serena quickly turned around "Huh?"  
  
"What's going on, Serena? You've been standing there in a spaced daze for 20 minutes. Is something bothering you?"  
  
"Why don't you leave the psychoanalysis to Grandma?" Serena retorted trying to give Karen the hint that she didn't want to talk about it.   
  
"Psychoanalysis …wow that's a big word for you? Grandma's the shrink, not me. I just thought you might like someone to talk to."  
  
"I'm sorry, Kar." Serena finally said and sat down next to the bed. "I was just replaying a fight that I had with Jessie in my head."  
  
"How is Jessie?" Karen asked remembering that she was the one driving the car.   
  
"She's okay. You got the worst of the accident. Your side of the car hit the tree." Serena explained.  
  
"So what did you two fight about? Or do I even have to ask?" Karen said.  
  
A panicked look crossed Serena's face. Finally she answered, "I blamed her for the accident. It basically came down to that fact that we are no longer friends."  
  
"That's a little harsh, don't you think? It was just an accident."  
  
"NO, Karen, I don't!" Serena said with a raised voice as she got up and stomped out of the room.   
  
Moments later, Lee and Gail showed up at Karen's room. "Hey, up for some visitors?" Lee asked.  
  
"Your mom called us to let us know that you had wakened," Gail explained. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"As well as can be expected, I guess."  
  
"Was that Serena that we just saw storming out of here?" Lee asked.  
  
"Yeah." Karen said putting her head down.   
  
"Is something wrong, sweetheart?" Gail asked.  
  
Karen looked into Gail's eyes, "I'm worried about her. We just had an argument. It's seems that she is blaming Jessie for the accident and everything that has happened."  
  
"Well, Karen, it is only natural to want to blame someone for an accident such as this. Jessie was driving the car, so Serena naturally thinks that it is her fault."  
  
Karen looked at her grandmother with skepticism, "I understand what you're saying, but I can't help to think that there is more to the accident that Serena isn't telling us. Unfortunately, I don't remember too much about that night."  
  
"Do you think that maybe she has told you're father anything?" Lee asked.  
  
"No, she's letting it bother her. If she won't tell me, then she wouldn't have told Dad."  
  
"Well, if there is one person who can pull a secret out of someone, it's your father. Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. I think he'll get through to her." Lee comforted.   
  
"So, tell us about this new great-granddaughter we have?" Gail smiled changing the subject.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Serena was standing at the nurse's station with the phone receiver to her ear. She had been trying to call Todd; but not being able to get Todd, she finally decided to call their mutual friend, Becky.  
  
"Becky? Hey it's Serena," she said when the phone was answered.  
  
"Hey, Serena, how's your sister doing?"   
  
"She's better, thanks. Hey, have seen or talked to Todd? I've been trying to get him all day."  
  
"Oh my God, Serena, you haven't heard?"  
  
"No, heard what?"  
  
"Serena…Todd and Seth were arrested this morning for possession of marijuana …They're probably at the police station talking to your dad right now."  
  
All expression drained from Serena's face, "Oh shit…" she exclaimed as the phone receiver fell from her hand. 


	14. Chapter 14

~*~ Chapter 14 ~*~  
  
Scott was sitting at a desk in the police station, looking over the contents of the folder that Alexis had given him. "I can't believe that Serena is mixed up with these kids" he whispered to himself as Mac approached.  
  
"Scott, what do you want to do with these boys? Are we pressing charges or what?" Mac asked.  
  
Scott ran his fingers through his hair trying to determine the next course of action. "Let's try to work with this information that they have given us. Release them on bond when their parents arrive. In the meantime, I want this Slimy Pete character picked up."  
  
"You got it..." Mac finished as he walked away. Scott remained sitting at the desk looking through the folder, his anger mounting higher and higher with each new piece of information that he read.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rhonda and Janelle turned around suddenly, when they heard the phone drop to the counter. "Serena, are you okay?" Rhonda asked.  
  
"Huh..."  
  
"Serena, what's wrong? Was that your father?" Rhonda asked.  
  
Serena was trying hard not to reveal the panic that had overtaken her body. "Ah...no...That was my friend, Becky. I turned and the phone cord got caught on the corner of the counter" she lied.  
  
"Hey...Serena, you like you could use a rest. I'm going to the firehouse to see if a package from my brother arrived. Why don't you come with me?" Janelle offered.   
  
"Actually, you go on ahead." Serena said turning to Rhonda. "Rhonda? Can you take me to Dad's office? I want to talk to him."  
  
"Sure, honey..." Rhonda replied. "Come on, let's go tell your sister and Chris goodnight; okay?" As Rhonda and Serena retreated towards Karen's room, Janelle watched them with envy before leaving the hospital.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Serena entered the police station with Rhonda closely behind her. She spotted Scott in a heated discussion with about their latest arrest. She walked up behind and touch him gently on the arm "Dad? I can I talk to you?" she asked.  
  
Scott turned around and glared at her for a second. "Serena, what are you doing here?"   
  
"Rhonda brought me..." she began only to be cut off by Scott.  
  
"What did you bring her here for, Rhonda?" He said with a raised voice shooting her a glare.  
  
"She wanted to talk to you, Scott. She asked me if I could bring her here for a minute before I took her home." Rhonda shot back in defense.  
  
"Okay, fine. What do you want to talk about?" He said taking her arm and pulling her off to a side desk. Rhonda stood by the reception desk while she waited for Serena engaging with small conversation with Mac.  
  
"Dad..." Serena started with fear in her voice not quite knowing how to start "I'm...um...I don't know how to tell you this..."  
  
"Why don't you just spit it out, Serena?" he said as his voice got louder. "Why don't you tell me just how many joints you and Jessie smoked the night you almost killed your sister?" He shouted getting the attention of everyone in the station, including Rhonda.  
  
Serena's heart sank and tears filled her eyes as she listened to her father's accusations. "Dad...I didn't..."  
  
"Oh...you didn't smoke any...is that what you're going to tell me Serena? I guess you're going to tell me that the marijuana that we found in Jessie's car was planted there, too, right?" he shouted.  
  
"Dad...I didn't smoke it..." she yelled back at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Jessie did...she had just started to smoke it when Karen called on the intercom. I asked her not too...but she did anyway...I asked her if she was okay to drive and she said yes."  
  
"Serena, that doesn't matter...her judgment, was impaired after just one puff. It didn't sink into your brain that you should've told Karen what was going on?"  
  
Serena stepped back from her enraged father. This was the worst tongue lashing that he had ever given her, and it didn't look like he was letting up any.   
  
"Where in blue blazes do you think your going little girl. Do you know who is held up in the back?"  
  
Serena simply nodded, to afraid to make words at the moment, so Scott made them for her.   
  
"That's right, your good buddies Todd and Seth. I supposed the drugs they were buying were for you, and Jessie?" Scott's voice echoed through the station, everyone inside pretended like they couldn't hear what was going on, yet kept a watchful eye on Scott as Serena moved behind Rhonda in an attempt to shield herself from her father's wrath.  
  
"Rhonda, get her the hell out of here. I'll deal with her when I get home." Scott turned his attention back to Serena, "Your lucky I don't toss YOU back there, and make it a Trio of jail birds." Scott walked away leaving Serena crying in the middle of the police station. Mac quickly followed him as Rhonda tried to console Serena. "Come on Serena, he's going to be here a while. What do you say we go get some ice cream soda's?"  
  
"Don't you think you were a little hard on her?" Mac asked Scott as he followed him through the station.  
  
"I'm just trying to save her the same heartache these things caused her sister. I wasn't there to save Karen and I won't watch another one of my daughters go through that pain...I would have never really thrown my own daughter with those to idiots, but putting a little fear of the law into her won't hurt her any."  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rhonda and Serena sat down at a booth at Kelly's and order two ice cream sodas. Serena stared out of the window as she twirled her straw in her drink. Rhonda knew that Serena needed to talk to someone, but she didn't know how to get her to open up. "You know, Karen used to work here." She finally said to Serena getting her attention. "She was a little older than you are now when she started. This is where she met Jagger. Come to think of it, this is where she married Jagger too; And where I dropped the bomb on her about your father."  
  
"What made you finally decide to tell Dad and Karen the truth?" Serena asked hoping to hear a story about her sister.  
  
"I've been waiting a long time for someone to ask me that question. The question that I normally get is 'how come you never told me?' And to be honest, I don't have a good answer for either question. I think deep down, I never told your father because I didn't want him to hate me."  
  
Serena sat there for a couple of minutes in silence before turning back to the window. "Dad hates me..." she finally confessed.  
  
"I don't believe that..."  
  
"Why not? You saw how he treated me"   
  
"I think it is more like he is scared. You and Karen are just like him. And he doesn't want to see you go through the same struggles that Karen went through. He'll come around you'll see."  
  
"But I'm not Karen..."  
  
"I know Serena...but as a parent, he is trying to protect you."  
  
"Protect me from what?"  
  
"From anything that could possibly hurt you. Look at it from his point of view. It kills him to think about the life that Karen had; and to know that he wasn't there for her when she needed him makes it worse. So with you, he is going to over-compensate....I know what you're thinking, and it doesn't make a difference that he didn't know...he feels like he has to be superman for his children."  
  
Serena listened intently to what Rhonda was saying. Rhonda knew Scott better than she ever let on to anyone. Not knowing what to say, Serena just put her head down.  
  
"Come on...let's go home." Rhonda said leaving some money on the table for the sodas.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Here you go, Scott." Mac said escorting what looked like a homeless man into the police station.   
  
"Put him in the interrogation room." Scott replied following them into the room. "So slimy Pete...You have something that you want to tell me? Where are you getting the drugs to sell to these kids?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about..."slimy Pete responded.  
  
"That figures...It doesn't matter to you that there is a young girl lying in a hospital bed and her little baby is fighting for her life because these boys got drugs from you..." Scott yelled.  
  
"Scott, can I talk to you a minute, outside?" Mac asked trying get Scott to calm down.  
  
The two men walked out of the room before Mac showed his concern. "Scott, you are too close to this...if you keep going off on him like that, we are going to get nowhere."  
  
"Mac, this man sold those kids drugs that nearly killed my daughter."  
  
"I know Scott, that's the problem. You are looking for justice right here and now, but he is just the dealer to the kids, we need to find the source. Why don't you let me and my guys handle it. As soon as we get the information we need, we'll pass it to you." Mac informed him.  
  
"Fine." Scott said as he left.  
  
~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Rhonda and Serena pulled into the driveway of the firehouse, Rhonda had thought that she saw someone walking around the side of the house. Serena noticed Rhonda looking intently at something, but she couldn't see anything. "What are you looking at Rhonda?" she asked.  
  
"Oh nothing...I just thought I saw something. It's not important." Rhonda said, although she knew who it was that she saw walking. "Do you want me to stick around until your father gets home?" she asked.   
  
"No that's okay...Janelle is here. He won't do anything with witnesses around." She said with a small chuckle.  
  
"Okay...have a good night...I'll probably see you tomorrow." Rhonda said as she watched Serena enter the house. She sat in the driveway a minute to see if she could see the person again. She got out of the car to follow the same path around the house only to find nothing. She made her way back to her car when she noticed the shine of headlights pulling into the driveway. 


	15. Chapter 15

~*~ Chapter 15 ~*~  
  
Scott stepped out of his car just as Rhonda was returning to hers after her little jaunt around the corner of the firehouse.  
  
"Rhonda, what are you doing here?" he asked knowing that Rhonda and Serena had left the station hours ago.  
  
"I was just dropping Serena off..."  
  
"Now? You were supposed to do that two hours ago." He remarked.  
  
"Well, I took her to Kelly's for a soda. After you practically disowned her at the police station, she was a little upset. I thought maybe I could get her to open up to me."  
  
"What did she say to you?" he quickly asked, hoping Rhonda did get some information.  
  
"Nothing." She replied with disgust.  
  
"Don't lie to me, Rhonda...tell me everything that she told you."  
  
"I'm not lying to you, Scott. I couldn't get her to talk about it. What is this all about anyway? What does the scene that was played out at the police station have to do with Karen and Serena's accident?" she asked.  
  
"That's nothing that you need to worry about," he said turning his head away from her. "How was Karen when you left the hospital tonight?" he asked trying to change the subject.  
  
"Now who's lying to whom, Scott? Karen was fine, Lee and Gail were with her. Now don't avoid the question. If you know something about our daughter, you'd better tell me..."  
  
"Like you told me, Rhonda!" he shouted. He looked at her seeing the hurt expression on her face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." He put his head down, finally getting ready to admit to Rhonda the details of the accident. "Jessie was smoking marijuana, the night of Karen's accident. They had it in Serena's bedroom." He said turning away from her so that she couldn't see the hurt in his eyes.  
  
"Serena, too?" she asked.  
  
"I don't know. You heard what she said at the station. She claims it was just Jessie."  
  
"You don't believe her?"  
  
"I want to believe her, but after Karen caught her and her so-called friends drinking..."  
  
"Wait a minute. Karen caught Serena and Jessie drinking? When?" Rhonda asked obviously surprised.  
  
"A couple of months ago. I was on a business trip; Serena and her friends skipped school for a little party here at the house. Karen surprised them by coming home and caught them finishing a bottle of whiskey." He admitted.  
  
"Oh wow! Just what she needed to find. Does she know about the accident?" Rhonda asked.   
  
"No!" Scott snapped out quickly. "And she better not find out, either. I'm going to handle this. It has become a high priority to find the dealers and bring them to justice."  
  
"You're going to do all of this, and still manage to keep it from Karen?" she asked.  
  
Scott nodded. "That's right, I will do anything to protect her. And right now that means not telling her about the drugs."  
  
"Well, all I have to say is, maybe you should start with that floozy that you're living with." Rhonda mumbled more to herself.  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
"I mean, something is not right about her, Scott. What do you know about her?"  
  
"I know enough about her. She has nothing to do with this!" he growled out at her.  
  
"Fine...I just think that it's a little odd that..." she trailed off changing her mind on what she was about to say.  
  
"What's odd?'  
  
"Nothing...just forget I said anything."  
  
"Rhonda?"   
  
"Fine...it is odd at that she would be traipsing around the side of the house and going towards the lake at 11:30 at night." She finally said.  
  
"What's odd about that? She goes for a walk down there everyday. She missed it today because we were at the hospital with Karen. It's a safe place, so she probably just went this evening." He explained.  
  
"Alright. Whatever you say. You know her better than I do." Rhonda said getting into her car. "I'll see you tomorrow. I have some papers for you to sign that were faxed to me from the Ontario office."  
  
"Bring them by in the afternoon. I'm going to see Karen in the morning." Rhonda nodded as she backed out of the driveway. Scott walked into the firehouse completely unaware that Serena was sitting at her bedroom window and heard the entire conversation.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next morning, Karen awoke to find Chris curled up in the chair next to her bed. She sat there and watched him for a minute until she noticed Alan in the doorway.   
  
"Good morning, Karen." He said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Hi Alan. I'm sore, but it's nothing that a little time won't heal."  
  
"I looked at your chart. Everything looks good. I discussed everything with Tony and it looks like you will be ready to go home tomorrow."   
  
"Oh...home...that sounds so nice right now."   
  
"I checked in on the baby also. She is a beauty, just like her mother. She is getting stronger everyday. Soon she'll be able to go home too" he reported. "So has sleeping beauty been there all night?" he asked nodding his head toward Chris.  
  
Karen looked at Chris and gave a little laugh. "Yeah, I think he has."  
  
"He's a good man, Karen. He loves you so much," Alan said as he placed his hand on Karen's. "You're like a daughter to me Karen, I glad to see you so happy."  
  
"Are you making me share my kid, now, Alan?" Scott said as he entered the room behind them. Alan got up and approached Scott to shake his hand.   
  
"Hi Scott, How are you? You've got a great girl, there, Scott. And another one upstairs." He said with a smile as he turned to Karen.   
  
"Ah...you're not telling me anything that I didn't already know!" Scott said with a big proud grin.  
  
Alan picked up Karen's chart and proceeded to leave. "I'll check on you later."  
  
"See ya, Alan." Scott said approaching Karen's bed with a wheelchair. "I promised you, that I would take you to see the baby. So hop in, while dear old dad, takes you for a test drive in this new set of luxury wheels I bought for you."  
  
"What are you so happy about?" Karen asked as she slowly got out of bed and into the wheelchair.   
  
"What? Can't a father be happy that his daughter is making a wonderful recovery and will be coming home tomorrow?" he innocently asked. "I talked to Tony and he said everything is all set for you to go home."  
  
"So that's what I hear," she said trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.  
  
"What's wrong?"   
  
"Nothing..."   
  
"Karen, come on, I know you better than that..." he said as he pushed her off the elevator and toward the nursery.  
  
"I just wish I could take her home with me," she said staring at the baby lovingly.  
  
"Soon, honey, very soon." Scott said as he put his arm around his daughter. "Hey, tell me...does my granddaughter have a name yet?"  
  
"Yes..." she said as she turned to him and smiled. "As long as it is okay with you."  
  
"With me? Karen, I don't think that I'm the one who has to approve."  
  
"Well in this case you do. Chris and I were talking and we decided to name her Dominique Meredith. Dominique after my stepmother, and Meredith after Chris' grandmother; two very important people in our fathers' lives;" she explained. She looked at Scott and noticed tears coming to his eyes. "Dad?"  
  
Scott looked down at the baby and then at Karen. "I love it. Dominique would be so proud of you. I love you so much, sweetheart;" he finally said pulling Karen into a hug and kissing her on the cheek.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Chris awoke only to notice that Karen was not in her bed. He jumped up in a panic and rushed out to the nurse's station.  
  
"Where is my wife?" he almost shouted to the volunteer behind the desk.  
  
"Calm down, Dr. Ramsey. Her father took her upstairs to see the baby," she explained.  
  
"Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't mean..." he apologized but was interrupted by Alan.  
  
"Chris, I'm glad you're awake."  
  
"Good morning, Dr. Quartermaine," Chris greeted.  
  
"I stopped by Karen's room this morning, you were sleeping. I wanted to let you that Karen is ready to be released tomorrow. She is recovering quite nicely."  
  
"Thank you, Dr. Quartermaine. I'll have everything taken care of for her at home."  
  
"Chris, I also wanted to tell you that your Conference Request has been approved. You have been registered and your hotel and flight reservations have been made and confirmed."   
  
"What? I can't go to the conference now. Not with Karen coming home. Beside, That conference starts in two days. I requested to go three months ago. I would have to leave tomorrow," Chris responded with mixed emotions of disappointment and disgust.  
  
"Dr. Ramsey, I realize that the timing isn't perfect. But due to budgeting, only certain conferences were approved. Your request happened to be one of them. Now, although you are not the only doctor qualified to attend this conference, I do think that you are the doctor who will benefit from it the most." Alan finished and walked away as Scott and Karen approached.  
  
"Chris, are you okay?" Karen asked with concern over his discussion with Alan.  
  
"Yeah. Alan just told me that my conference request has been approved."  
  
"Chris, that's great, you were looking forward to attending that conference."  
  
"Karen, I made the request three months ago. It just got approved now? It is a month long clinic. I would have to leave tomorrow and I can't leave you and the baby for a month. Not with you coming home tomorrow."  
  
"Chris, go to the clinic. I will be okay. The baby will be in the hospital for at least another month, honey. And maybe Serena will spend the first week at the house to help me out."  
  
"I have a better idea," Scott interjected. "Chris, you go to the conference. And Karen, you come home with me and stay at the firehouse while he is away."  
  
"Dad, no...I can stay at my own place," Karen started to refuse.  
  
"No Karen..." Chris said "for once, I agree with your father. I can't get out of this conference, not after the speech that I just heard about the budget and the fuss I made about needing to attend this conference in last months board meeting. I would feel much better knowing that you were at your father's. At least at the firehouse, there is usually someone always around. Just incase you need something."  
  
"Well since it looks like I'm out voted...Dad...I guess I'm moving in. But only until I'm well enough to go back to my place."  
  
"Whatever you say, sweetheart. Now let's get you back into bed. Your mother and I will be by in the morning to take you home. Okay?" Scott said. 


	16. Chapter 16

~*~ Chapter 16 ~*~  
  
Scott pulled the car into the driveway. He quickly jumped out of the car and ran to the passenger side to help Karen out. Serena sat in her bedroom looking out of the window down over the sidewalk watching as Scott all but carried Karen to the house. "Great, the prodigal daughter returns," she whispered to herself.  
  
"Dad, I'm not an invalid. I can walk myself…" Karen said to her father "I had surgery on my abdomen; they didn't cut my legs off."  
  
"I don't want you to fall and break open your stitches, Karen."  
  
"I'm walking into the house; I'm not running the 100 yard dash jumping hurdles."  
  
"I know, I know, I just want to make sure you get into the house safely," he explained.  
  
"Dad…I…" Karen started with a disgusted tone.  
  
"Karen, quit arguing with your father and let him help you. I swear the way you two argue; sometimes I think you're both lawyers." Rhonda said getting frustrated and walking ahead of them to open the door.  
  
"Here we go, Chateau Baldwin…" He said as they walked inside. "Your mother and your sister went to your house last night and got everything that you would need."  
  
"We put everything in your room, honey." Rhonda said.  
  
"My room?" Karen asked puzzled. "You mean the guest room."  
  
"No she means your room, come on, take a look," Scott said as he took her hand and lead her through the kitchen. Off to the side she noticed a new door. "What's that?" she asked pointing to the door.  
  
"Well go on…go inside" Scott said with the excitement of child on Christmas. Karen opened the door and walked into a beautifully decorated bedroom. It was fully furnished and had a bathroom to the left and a nursery to the right. The nursery was also furnished with the second set of furniture that she had picked out. Karen stood there in awe just looking at the room, until finally Scott spoke up.  
  
"This is so that the next time I tell you to go to your room, you'll have a place to go."  
  
"Oh my god…Dad…I don't know what to say…when did you have this done? It's wonderful." She exclaimed as she moved into the nursery.  
  
"I started planning it a couple of weeks ago…but when you were in the hospital, I decided that when you woke up you were going to stay here. So, I called my contractor right away to put a rush on it. He got an extra crew together and they worked straight through until dawn. Serena is probably upstairs sleeping because the pounding kept her up all night," he explained as he followed her into the nursery. "Look here," he said as he opened the closet. "There is a small refrigerator and a small microwave, so that you can keep Nikki's bottles in here. That way, when she wakes up in the middle of the night, you can just come in here and heat a bottle for her."   
  
"Nikki?" Karen questioned with a puzzled look and then a smile.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry honey…" he paused as memories flooded back to him. "I always called Dominique that when we were alone, she also hated it when I called her that" a faint smile painted his face as he thought of her. Karen gave him the greatest honor that she could have ever given him by naming the baby after her.   
  
"No, don't apologize. I kinda like that…Nikki." She turned around and took in the entire room. "How can I ever thank you for this. It is absolutely wonderful."  
  
"Anything for my little girl…" he said pulling her into a hug.   
  
"Thank you so much, dad" she said as he nestled her head against his shoulder. She felt so safe in his arms. It was a feeling that made her believe that everything was going to be okay and Nikki would be home soon.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Mac was sitting in his office going over Seth and Todd's statements again and again. He couldn't help but think that there was something that he was missing. He finally decided to set the folder aside for a while and work on something else, when an officer entered. "Commissioner, this Peter Lancaster guy that you are holding is asking to call his lawyer. Can we allow that?" the officer asked.  
  
"Yeah, go ahead. Maybe he is finally ready to talk." Mac answered.  
  
Mac walked out of his office to see Slimy Pete sitting at a desk. "So you want to call your lawyer huh? Does this mean that you're finally ready to give us some information that we can use?"  
  
"Just let me call my lawyer. Will ya?" Pete said with a hint of disdain.  
  
"Fine, there's the phone. Make your call."  
  
Pete pick up the phone and dialed the number. After three rings, he finally heard the voice that he was hoping for.   
  
"This better be good…" he heard.  
  
"You need to get me outta here." Pete said in response.  
  
"I'm working on it. I'm doing the best that I can."  
  
Pete's anger was building but he was trying not to let it show. "You're not working hard enough. Use whatever clout you have and spring me from this joint. They keep pushing me for information that I don't have, if you understand my meaning."  
  
"I read you loud and clear. And don't worry, the situation will be resolved within 48 hours," the voice finished before hanging up the phone. Pete continued to speak as if there were still someone on the line. "It better be. I expect to see you here in the morning so that we can get this matter cleared up," he finished and hung up.  
  
"All finished?" Mac asked as he approached.  
  
"My lawyer will be here in the morning." Pete announced.  
  
"That's great. We're looking forward to it. Officer Wilkins, take this man back to his cell."  
  
"Yes, Sir," The officer said escorting slimy Pete out of the office.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At the firehouse, Scott was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper while Serena sulked in her bedroom and Karen took a nap. He put the newspaper down, when he finally heard Serena coming down the stairs. "It's about time you join the world of the living," he said before he turned around to look at her and notice that she wasn't sticking around.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked when he finally saw her.  
  
"Out," She said simply.  
  
"Oh no…I'll be damned if you're walking out that door…just so you can go get in more trouble with your friends." He said as he began to raise his voice.  
  
"What is it with you? Just because you don't like a couple of my friends you think that every teenager on the other side of that door is just waiting to hook me on drugs," she shot back. "I would like think that you were a little smarter than that."  
  
"I don't trust any of those kids you call your friends. All those kids are going to do is get you in more trouble. Go ask your sister how easy it is for your friends to get you into trouble," he shouted unaware that he had awoken Karen. Hearing the shouts, she got up to investigate but she stopped at the door between the kitchen and living room when she heard Serena begin shout back.  
  
"When are you going to get it? I'M NOT KAREN!!!" Serena shouted as she grabbed her jacket and stormed out of the door.  
  
Scott stood there for a minute dumbfounded. How did things get so out of hand with Serena? He put his head down and turned toward the kitchen when he heard Karen enter the room.  
  
"Dad? Are you okay?" she asked with concern. Scott just looked up at her and shook his head. "She's right, you know…she's not me. She wouldn't make the same mistakes that I made."  
  
Scott sat on the couch has he mumbled to himself "I wouldn't bet on it."   
  
Barely hearing what he said, Karen moved next to him. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing…you two are just more alike than you realize."  
  
Karen looked at him and raised one eyebrow, "care to elaborate on that?"  
  
Scott smiled as he realized that this was his opportunity to turn this serious discussion into a lighter hearted one as he got up and moved toward the television. "Sure, you both have a great dad, and you are both beautiful women who love to give me problems."  
  
Karen smiled back with a laugh "you love it and you know it. Speaking of women problems though, where's Janelle?" she asked.  
  
"Oh she went shopping or something. I really wasn't listening to what she said when she left. It's hard enough to keep tabs on you girls. If I had to keep tabs on Janelle too I'd be locked up at Ferncliff by now." He said with a grin as he put a movie in the VCR and sat on the couch and put his arm around Karen.  
  
"But that's what I like about you; you're my crazy old dad," she said as she curled up in his arms and laid her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Hey now…watch it. I'm not old, I'm in my prime," he said as be noticed Karen begin to fall asleep in his arms. He reached for a pillow and laid her head down gently. He lightly stroked her hair as he sat there and watched her sleep only taking his eyes off of her when he heard the front door open.   
  
He turned his head just enough to see Janelle enter with groceries in each hand. As Janelle walked toward the kitchen, she stopped when she noticed Karen asleep with her head on Scott's lap. "It doesn't matter how old they are; your children always look so sweet and peaceful when they're sleeping like that," she said with a smile.  
  
Scott carefully lifted Karen's head enough that he could maneuver himself off of the couch. He looked down at Karen with a smile "Yeah…like a little angel," he said in agreement. "My little angel."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Slimy Pete paced back and forth in his cell rehashing the phone conversation that he had earlier.  He knew that phone call was his only chance, but he had to wait for 48 hours.  As the guards made their final evening rounds, he finally heard them call for lights out.  He stopped pacing long enough to get ready to crawl in bed just as a bullet pierced through his cell window striking him in the temple. The crashing of the glass window in the cell alarmed the guards who switched the lights back on, only to find a single bullet hole carefully placed between the bars and wire that's laced throughout the window, and Pete laying on the cold cell floor… dead.  
  
  


	17. Chapter 17

~*~ Chapter 17 ~*~   
  
"What the hell was that?" the guard yelled as the other turned the lights back on.   
  
"I don't know, we better check it out." The two guards made there way down the corridor of jail cells.  One of the inmates started to yell out to the guards. "Hey…Guard   
  
over here.  I think you've got a problem."    
  
The guards followed the shouts of the inmate right to Slimy Pete's cell. As they looked around they found slimy Pete's dead body lying on the floor in a pool of blood.   
  
"Better call the commissioner."   
  
"I'm already on it," the guard said as he walked toward the office. "Look around here to see what you can find."   
  
The guard opened the cell and walked inside to look around for any clues of what happened being very careful as to not touch anything.  The only piece of evidence that he   
  
could find was the broken glass of the cell window.   
  
In the office, the other guard had finally gotten a hold of Mac.  "Commissioner, we have a situation here. You need to come to the station immediately.  You might want to call DA Baldwin, too," he said just before he hung up the phone and returned to the jail cell.   
  
"Is the commissioner on his way?" the guard asked as the other approached.   
  
"Yeah…Baldwin too…what did you find?"   
  
"It looks like it was a sniper; from across the street. I called it into Taggert…he's sending a team over to scour those buildings."  The two guards left to finish their nightly duties while they awaited the arrival of Scott and Mac.  About 30 minutes later, Mac entered the police station with Scott right behind him.   
  
"What is this about, Monroe?" Mac asked walking straight up to the guards.  Just as Taggert and his team came in with a high powered rifle and laser scope.   
  
"Looks like we got a murder weapon," Taggert announced. "We found it on the third floor of the abandoned Taylor building across the street.  As soon as I have it tagged,   
  
I'm going to send it down to forensics for a full analysis."   
  
"Murder weapon? What's going on here?" Scott asked.   
  
"Peter Lancaster was murdered in his cell tonight," the guard began to explain.   
  
"How did that happen?" Scott yelled at the guard.   
  
"Sniper."   
  
"Sniper? From where?" Scott asked in disgust.   
  
"Looks like the Taylor building. Detective Taggert can fill you in on the rest," the guard said as he retreated back to his post.   
  
"Great. Just Great!" Scott said turning to Mac. "This was our only lead." Scott pauses for a second attempting to compose himself, instead he just smacks the wall hard with his hand. "Damn it!"   
  
"Well let's just wait and see what forensics brings back to us. It may bring up another lead." Mac said slapping Scott's shoulder as he walked into his office. Scott simply nodded as he followed.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
Serena walked around the outside corner of the firehouse toward the kitchen door, trying to stay as quite as possible.  She tried to open the kitchen door only to find that it was locked.  She fished in her pockets for her keys but when she couldn't find them, she remembered that she had left the house without them. "It figures…trying to lock me out, eh Dad…well it's not gonna work," she said to herself as she moved the bench to the picnic table right below the kitchen counter window.    
  
Before climbing up on the bench, she got a small stick that she could use to pop the screen out of the window.  After getting the screen out she slid the window up and   
  
hoisted herself up through it.  Once she got into the house, she closed the window and jumped off of the counter only to see Karen come out of the shadows.   
  
"No need to sneak in, Dad's not here," Karen said to her walking to the refrigerator to get a couple drinks for her and Serena.   
  
"Geez, Karen, you scared the crap out of me," she jumped when she finally saw her sister.   
  
"Where were you anyway?" Karen asked.   
  
"I went for a walk. I had to get out of here for a while."   
  
"Serena, what is going on? You and Dad have been acting really strange…Are you in some kind of trouble?"   
  
"Karen, I really don't need this from you too…" she said, becoming defensive. Karen handed a soda to Serena, and shot her a look. "Come on sis, level with me. You know you can't keep secrets from me."  
  
"I'm sorry Kare…I" Serena paused for a second trying to think of an excuse to tell Karen rather then coming clean, but none presented itself. "I…. can't do this anymore…"   
  
"Do what, Serena?"   
  
"No, I'm not in trouble…it is more…Jessie."   
  
"What do you mean? What kind of trouble is Jessie in? It must be pretty bad for you and Dad to go at each other over it."  
  
Serena paused as she drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Karen, how much do you remember about the accident?"  
  
"What am I supposed to remember? I cut my hand, you and Jessie drove me to the hospital, I got a real unique view of a tree and woke up a few days later in a hospital bed. Is there something else?"  
  
Serena pulled out a chair, and sat down. She took a sip of her soda, trying to delay the inevitable for as long she as she could. Looking up at Karen, an expression of sorrow crossed the young woman's face. "Jessie wasn't quite herself that night when she got behind the wheel of the car." Serena paused again, wondering if this is really what she should be doing, but the guilt, and the anguish of the situation had been eating her up inside; she had to tell someone, and Karen would be the most understanding. "Jessie, was high."  
  
Karen stumbled backwards as if someone had just smacked her in the face. Pulling out her chair, she sat as the memories, and the pain that she had gone through when she had her problem came rushing back. "High?? She was upstairs with you, how… when… where did it come from?"   
  
"It was in my room, left over from the little party a couple of months ago." Serena looked down at the floor, to ashamed to look her sister in the face.   
  
Karen's face drained of all expression as she talked. "Your room?? Serena are you…"  
  
Karen didn't have to finish her thought Serena knew what she was thinking, the same thing that her father accused her of. "No… But daddy thinks I am. That's what the fight was about earlier, he didn't want you to find out."   
  
Karen looked down at her soda, small drops of liquid could be seen through the can's opening popping out and landing silently on the cold can. "I can't believe that he thought he had to keep this from me. I thought…"  
  
"Don't be mad with him," Serena interrupted. "With everything you've been through lately, he didn't want to put any more stress on you."   
  
Karen nodded in understanding. "Well what about Jess, is she going to get help?"  
  
"No she doesn't think she has a problem, Kare. She can't even see how much she has changed since this has happened, and I feel like it's to late for me to do any good."   
  
Karen leaned forward towards Serena "It's never too late for a friend to help."   
  
Serena cocked her head to the side and gave Karen a half smile. "Thanks sis…maybe I'll give her a call in the morning."   
  
"You talk her into getting help, and I'll arrange the meeting. Okay?"   
  
"I thought I heard voices down here…" Janelle interrupted walking into the kitchen.  
  
"Oh…I'm sorry, we didn't mean to wake you." Karen replied.  
  
"Think nothing of it…so…what are you two chatting about?" Janelle asked.  
  
"Ah…you know…just doing a little catching up on the sister stuff." Karen said winking at Serena.   
  
Serena and Karen both stood up from the table and Serena gave Karen a tight hug. "Goodnight, sis…I love you" she said before retreating to her bedroom.  
  
Karen watched Serena leave then turned toward her own bedroom and let out a yawn, "I think it's time for me to get some sleep too; I need to get up early to go to the hospital to visit Nikki…Goodnight, Janelle," she said as she closed the bedroom door leaving Janelle alone in the kitchen.  
  
Janelle stood in the kitchen for a minute before she decided to go back to bed. As she walked into the living room Scott came through the door and threw his keys onto the the table. "Rough night, huh?" Janelle asked approaching him.  
  
"Huh? Oh…yeah. You could say that…" he replied running his fingers through his hair.  
  
"Wanna talk about it?"  
  
"Nah…there's really not much to say. It just looks like we lost our only lead to this case we're working on," he said as he scanned the living room. "Where are the girls? In bed?"  
  
"Ah…yeah...they both just went to bed a few minutes ago. I'm going up to bed too. Are you coming?" she asked.  
  
"I'll be up in a minute, I just want to get a drink of water." He said to her as she ascended the stairs to the bedroom. Scott walked into the kitchen and opened the door to check on Karen who was already sound asleep. He got a glass of water and headed toward his bedroom when the phone rang. He ran to it to pick it up on the first ring. "Hello?"  
  
"Hey Scott…it's Mac. We just got the ballistics report. The bullet and rifle match. And the rifle matches the bullets that murdered those other two dealers."  
  
"You mean the murders that Janelle witnessed?"  
  
"That's what I mean…"  
  
"This doesn't make sense Mac. If the rifle matches, then that means we didn't nab the right killer."  
  
"Not necessarily, Scott. Janelle only saw and was able to ID one killer. There may have been two. And we never did have a murder weapon. We were lucky that we got a conviction with the evidence that we had."   
  
"You think they might be looking for her?" Scott asked.  
  
"At this point, no. I think they were more interested in keeping Pete Lancaster quiet."  
  
"Well, I'm going to beef up security around here anyway, just in case. Keep me posted would'ya, Mac?" Scott said as he moved around the house to lock all of the doors and windows.  
  
"You got it, Scott, Good night." Mac said hanging up.  
  
With that, Scott turned off the lights and armed the security system before heading up to bed himself. 


	18. Chapter 18

~*~ Chapter 18 ~*~   
  
Scott, Janelle, Karen and Serena step off of the elevator for the NICU, as they walked down the hallway toward the nursery; they saw Rhonda standing at the window watching Nikki sleep.   
  
"Looks like Grandma beat us here," Scott said walking up to Rhonda giving her a gentle smile. "How is our little one doing today?"  
  
"Hi honey," Rhonda said giving Karen a hug. "She is doing well today. How are you feeling?"  
  
Karen moved to the window and looked down at Nikki and smiled, "I'm feeling much better now. Although, I wish I could hold her…she looks so fragile." She said as her arms ached to hold her baby girl. Scott stepped behind Karen and put his hand on her shoulder. "She's getting stronger by the day. She'll be home soon, honey."  
  
Rhonda turned and noticed Serena standing off to the side almost as if trying to avoid getting a glimpse of her niece. Rhonda took a stance next to Serena and waited for Scott, Karen, and Janelle to get caught up with Nikki before she leaned over and whispered to Serena, "What about you? Are you okay?"  
  
Serena looked at Rhonda for a minute. Without having a good answer to that question, she just shrugged her shoulders. Rhonda put her arm around Serena, "he'll come around, trust me. I have never known a time that he hasn't. In the mean time, that's no reason for you not to go, and see how cute your little niece is."  
  
"I guess your right." Serena responded "She is a cutie isn't she." Serena smiled as she moved to stand next to her father. The three Baldwins all stood there looking down at there own reflections nearly as much as they were looking at the infant laying in the crib.   
  
Janelle jumped slightly when she was startled by a slight movement in her purse. She looked at Scott and excused herself briefly to answer her vibrating cell phone. Rhonda watched as Janelle walked out into the hallway. Looking over at the near Kodak moment that Scott and his family were enjoying; she decided that someone needed to keep an eye on that woman. "Well isn't this a lovely site, the whole Baldwin clan together, and no one yelling." Rhonda joked. "I'm going to get a cup of coffee, anyone else want one?" Scott looked back, but didn't answer. Rhonda knew by the look on his face he had all that he wanted right in front of him.   
  
Slowly Scott stepped backwards, putting his arms around his two lovely daughters, and drawing them close. "I don't know how you're holding up so well. If I had to go through anything like this, I don't know what I'd do." Scott commented to Karen as he pulled his daughters closer, embracing them in a near hug.  
  
Looking up at her father Serena saw the serene solace on his face. Turning she buried her own face in his chest. A silent tear rolled down her cheek as she whispered "I'm sorry, daddy" quietly to him. "I know, me too." was Scott's only response as he kissed the top of her head.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Walking down the hall Rhonda paused when she heard Janelle talking into her phone "I know don't worry about it, I'll take care of it personally…. No I won't be late, I'll get every thing back on schedule…Okay, I'll see you tonight."   
  
Staying out of Janelle's sight, Rhonda watched her intently as she finished her conversation. The conversation sounded innocent enough, but Rhonda still felt skeptical to fact that Janelle was legit. When Janelle placed her phone back in to her purse, Rhonda went to the coffee machine and made her selection before heading back to Scott and the girls.  
  
Minutes later, Rhonda returned to NICU. She paused in the doorway to take in the sight. Scott was alone having a very one sided conversation with Nikki. "Okay, there, cutie. Now it's time to get down to business. I want you to know that you can come to me for anything, okay? I'm going to tell you a secret…as you get older, you'll find that you will really want something and Mommy and Daddy will say no…that's when you come to Grandpa. But don't tell your Mommy…'cause then she'll come after me…she'll accuse me of spoiling you. And no matter what your parents say…the kids are the boss, not the parents. Just ask your Mom and Aunt Serena, those two have me wrapped around their little fingers…all they have to do is flash those pretty smiles at me and I crumble. Although, I would never admit that to them…so let's keep that between you and me."  
  
Smiling at the sight, Rhonda finally made her presence known by clearing her throat and handing Scott a cup of coffee. "Where are your two princesses?" she asked in a light hearted tone.   
  
Scott let out a small chuckle as he accepted the coffee. "Karen went to speak with Nikki's doctor and Serena tagged along…" he said turning back to Nikki. "So, I decided to stay here and have a little chat with our granddaughter."  
  
Rhonda laughed at Scott's enthusiasm and shook her head., "Karen is going to have her hands full with you, Scott." Scott just flashed Rhonda a sly grin and raised his eyebrows.   
  
Janelle finally returned and moved beside Scott linking her arm with his. "Hey you," Scott acknowledged, "everything okay?"  
  
"Yes, just fine…that was my brother; he wants me to meet him at the airport tonight. He is flying out to Chicago tonight and has a lay over in Port Charles. We're having problems with our trucking company in Springfield and he never received the papers that my secretary was supposed to fax, so I am going to deliver them to him myself over dinner. So what do you say to a special evening alone with your daughters," Janelle explained.  
  
"Sounds like heaven," Scott said smiling as he turned to Rhonda. "Rhonda would you like to join the girls and me for dinner tonight at the firehouse, I'm cooking?"  
  
"Thanks, Scott, but I have a date tonight. I cancelled on him twice because of the accident, I don't want to cancel again," she explained as Karen and Serena returned.  
  
Everyone noticed the big smile on Karen's face, "Nikki is doing great," she proudly announced. "Her lungs are almost fully developed and it doesn't look like there will be any long term complications or effects. She has at least another couple of weeks in the hospital, but she is doing wonderfully."  
  
"That is great news, honey," Rhonda said giving Karen a hug.   
  
Karen stood next to Nikki and placed her hand on the incubator as she smiled down upon her daughter. Scott moved behind Karen and placed his hands on her shoulders, "it's tough to keep a member of this family down," he said.   
  
Scott looked up at the clock on the nursery wall, "Well if we're having a family night in, then we need to get some grocery shopping done. The firehouse is foodless."   
  
"You guys go ahead" Janelle suggested. "I'm going straight home, and getting ready. I'm sure I'll see you before I leave."   
  
Rhonda stood over by the incubator, Scott turned his attention to her "and you stay out of trouble tonight." Rhonda smiled at him, "You too Scott." She said not even moving her eyes from little Nikki  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I don't know why you bought all those spices" Karen commented entering the firehouse with a large paper grocery bag. "I need them for when I make the sauce" Scott answered entering with an equally large bag.   
  
Karen sat the bag on the couch. "And what makes you think I'm going to let you make the sauce?"  
  
"I always make the sauce." Scott answered in an almost defensive tone.   
  
"And you always put in to many spices" Karen retorted as she started to pull out the sauce ingredients from her bag. It wasn't until Scott set down his bag that he noticed somehow Karen had all of the sauce ingredients in her bag, in his he had soda, and noodles. "So that's why she offered to bag the groceries." He mumbled staring down at his bag.   
  
Serena walked through the firehouse door gabbing with Jessie on her cell phone. After her late night talk with Karen, Serena decided to put forth the effort that it was going to take to get through to Jessie. Serena continued to talk as she entered into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She began to only half listen to Jessie when she was distracted by her father and her sister attempting to make dinner.  
  
On his way to the spice rack, Scott stopped for a second to look at Serena. He put eyebrows together and cocked his head to the side "Serena, get off of the phone and make the salad," he said before returning to the pot of sauce with spices in his hand.   
  
"Who is she talking to?" Karen asked turning around just in time to see Scott prepare to dump a red spice into the sauce. She quickly ripped the shaker out of his hand and put the cap back on, "Dad, what are you doing?"  
  
"Give me that…" he said trying to take it back. "I need to put that in the sauce."  
  
"Dad, you are not putting this in my spaghetti sauce…"  
  
"Why not?" he asked following behind her as she placed it back on the spice rack.  
  
"You don't put paprika in spaghetti sauce." She insisted.  
  
The argument caught the attention of Serena who looked up from the table, this time with her headset connected to the phone so she could talk while she made the salad. "Ohh those two, you know Karen and dad, they'll fight over anything. I think it's spaghetti sauce this time around." Karen glanced over at Serena, "We're not fighting over spaghetti sauce, we're fighting over paprika." Serena just shook her head, and started to pull out the salad ingredients.   
  
Seizing the opportunity, Scott went to the spice rack to get the paprika and headed for the sauce. Suddenly, Serena got a smile on her face and pointed in Scott's direction to get Karen to take notice of him. When Karen turned around, she quickly yanked the spice from Scott's hands again.  
  
"No…" she said in a louder voice. "You are not putting a Hungarian spice in an Italian dish."  
  
"Why not? The sauce is red…paprika is red…they're meant to be together."  
  
"That is the stupidest reason I have ever heard for putting a spice into anything…by color?!?"  
  
"Karen Marie," Scott said just as loud. "Give me that shaker now."  
  
"Uh-oh," Serena said in to the phone. "He is starting to use middle names, I better go before my sister drags me into this. I'll talk to you later, Jess." Serena hung up the cell phone and pushed it deep into her jeans pocket as she reached for a spoon to taste the sauce.  
  
Scott turned his attention to Serena as Karen put the paprika away, "We'll just ask Serena how she wants the sauce."  
  
"I just want buttered noodles," she said determined to stay out of this fight.  
  
"Buttered noodles!" Scott and Karen said in unison. "with cheese" Serena added as she continued to make the salad.   
  
"How can you have spaghetti without sauce?!" Scott continued, seemingly trying to catch up on all the friendly arguments with his daughters that he had recently neglected.  
  
Karen noticed Serena's discomfort with the way this is going and decided to change the subject.  
  
"What did Jessie have to say, Serena?" Karen asked leaning on the counter as Scott once again moved toward the spice rack. Thinking that Karen didn't see him, he quickly placed the shaker behind the pot of sauce to hide it and joined in on the conversation.  
  
"Not too much," Serena replied. "She has an appointment tomorrow with that doctor that you recommended."  
  
Scott looked at the girls puzzled. "With what doctor?"  
  
"Karen, recommended a doctor that works with Grandma for Jessie to talk to about the accident and the drugs and stuff," Serena explained.  
  
Scott's puzzled look turned to shock as he now realized that Karen knew all of the details behind the accident. "Serena, did you tell…"  
  
"Don't be mad at her, dad" Karen interrupted picking up the jar of paprika that Scott placed behind the pot. This time she opened the door to the Cereal cabinet and placed the paprika on the shelf. "I pulled it out of her, I can be very persuasive at times, you know."  
  
Karen and Serena continued their conversation as Scott began to look franticly for the paprika. Noticing that Scott was driving himself nuts over finding the paprika, the girls stopped talking and began to laugh to themselves. When he heard their giggles, he stopped looking and quickly turned around. With the strongest fatherly tone that he could muster, he looked directly at Karen. "Karen Marie Baldwin, you are not too old to be grounded, young lady. "  
  
Karen let a smile creep across her face as she tried hard not to laugh, "it's Ramsey, remember? You walked me down the aisle."  
  
"That's it, little girl…you're grounded until you tell me where you put that shaker," he said completely serious.  
  
"Are you pulling rank on me, dad?"  
  
"You're damn right." He shouted looking over at Serena who couldn't help but to laugh. "What are you laughing at, you're going to be in the dog house right next to your sister, Miss I just want buttered noodles." He said with a snicker.   
  
"with cheese," Serena added nonchalantly.  
  
"I don't care who you girls think you are, I'm still your father, this is my house, and I'm in charge of this family and I w…."   
  
"That's funny" Serena interrupted "Grandpa always told us the kids are the boss."   
  
Janelle, hearing the heated discussion in the kitchen peek her head into the room, "You know, for a family that says you love each other so much, you guys sure do argue a lot."  
  
Scott turned to face Janelle, shrugged, and said "I'm a lawyer." At the same time Serena and Karen in unison commented "He's a lawyer". Scott moved over to where Janelle was, and spied the bottle of paprika in the cupboard. Glancing back he noticed Karen stirring the sauce, her attention completely diverted from him. Reaching up Scott pulled the spice from the cupboard and started to remove the cap as he talked. "So you're off to meet your brother then."   
  
"Yea, he'll be waiting for me, and he gets rather cranky when I'm late." Janelle replied as she watched Scott's actions suspiciously.   
  
"Well you be careful out there, remember the shooter at the police station may have been related to your case." Scott warned, slipping the paprika's cap into his pocket.   
  
Janelle kissed him lightly on the cheek "ohh, DA Baldwin, if I didn't know better I'd think you were worried about me." She joked.   
  
"I'm serious, I don't want anyone to harm any part of my family, you included." Scott replied returning the kiss. As he turned, Scott noticed that Karen had abandoned the simmering pot.   
  
Janelle smiled, and walked out of the kitchen only stopping to pick up her coat, and large hand bag on the way out.   
  
Walking past the stove, Scott pulled out a soda from the refrigerator. Quickly he turned when he thought Karen wasn't looking, and tried to dump paprika into the sauce, only to find out after the paprika had sprinkled into the flame that Karen had retrieved the pot while his back was turned, and was heading for the dining room with it. Turning to push through the door backwards, steaming paprikaless pot in hand she smiled at her father. "Oh…Dad…Could you shut that off after you're done spicing up the stove."   
  
Hurriedly Janelle jumped into her car, flopping the hand bag onto the seat next to her. .She was so focused on making her meeting on time, that she didn't notice the headlights turn on in the alleyway and pull in behind her as she passed. 


	19. Chapter 19

~*~ Chapter 19 ~*~  
  
Fog rolled slowly over the hill where half a dozen police cars, and about twice as many offices sat quietly watching the activity at the number 11 dock, just outside of Sonny Corenthos' control. A dark blue sedan rolled up next to the other cars. Out of it, stepped officer Taggart of the PCPD. Quickly, yet silently he moved through the crowd of officers toward Mac, who was on his cell phone making final preparations. "Are you sure your information is solid. If we bust the wrong person, especially THIS wrong person… Alright, but if you're wrong, we'll all be crucified."   
  
Mac slammed his cell phone shut, just as Taggart handed him a piece of paper, "It looks like the informant's suspicions were justified. It took a lot of digging, and a few alias changes but it looks like our suspect has a history of this kind of thing." Taggart looked around at the dozen or so police officers in the shadows "Looks like the gangs all here." He said jokingly.  
  
Mac smiled back. "Are you kidding, this is the biggest drug bust in Port Charles history, possibly the biggest in the Eastern Seaboard, we had officers try to come out of retirement for this…hell Jagger even called me, he tried to get me to authorize him to fly back to join this, and he's in San Francisco!"  
  
Down at the warehouse a car pulled up outside on the docks. Janelle slowly stepped out holding a package in her hand. A burly man dressed in a leather trench walked out and gave Janelle a peck on the cheek "Good to see you made it Sis… Do you have it?"   
  
Janelle handed over the package "I received it in the mail yesterday. I just couldn't get away from the DA, and his annoying daughters."   
  
The man tore open the brown paper on the package to reveal a small wooden cigar box. Eagerly, he pulled open the lid, and discarded the Cubans sitting inside. Layered on the bottom of the box, neatly set in, was a clear bag full of diamonds. Janelle peered into the box over her brother's shoulder. "About 9 million dollars worth there… with the other shipments like this; it appears that our 27 million dollar price tag has been met." Janelle remarked. Her brother smiled as he sniffed one of the cigars, "I just love Colombians, don't you?" inquired her brother.   
  
Back on the hill Mac watched the exchange through a pair of binoculars. "Well it looks like the party guests have all arrived, signal the officers, this goes down fast, and it goes down now. Janelle and her brother apparently have a knack for quick escapes." Taggart got on the radio to the officers. "Ok this is a go, Mac and I will lead. Keep the lights and sirens off until you see us light ours up. We want the element of surprise on this one guys." As if someone shot a starter pistol and yelled go, the officers raced for their cars eager for the action.  
  
In the warehouse men of all nationalities were busy loading boxes full of heroin on to a truck that would be carrying it to a boat waiting outside at the docks. Along the wall sat barrels of ether used to cut codeine into heroin. Janelle followed her brother over to a sports car that was sitting quietly in the back of the warehouse. "Like it? I just had it shipped over from Italy this morning," he said as he caressed the hood of red car.  
  
"I figure this way if we get busted we'll be in Maheco before they can catch up." He joked Janelle just rolled her eyes.  
  
"You know that's just an excuse for buying a new and expensive toy. And did I say lately I hate when you try to fake a Mexican accent you're not good at it. That was a nice clean job you did on Pete…He wouldn't have had to meet his maker if Baldwin's stupid kid wouldn't have gotten mixed up those boys, but Pete did his job, he created the diversion that we needed. Besides, no one in this backwards little town is smart enough to link us to this, we won't get…"   
  
The two siblings were interrupted by the sounds of police sirens surrounding the warehouse. The workers brandished their guns in a futile attempt to ward off the officers that stormed the warehouse. One by one, the workers dropped their weapons not wanting to engage in a gun fight they knew that they couldn't win.   
  
Suddenly the warehouse echoed with the sound of the sports car firing up. Janelle's brother turned to see his sister tear out of the back of the warehouse in his new car, without him. Looking back he saw the warehouse full of cops. Mac and Taggart stood in the middle of the warehouse and watched the sports car flee the building. Both pulled their guns, but it was too late, the car was gone before they could pull a bead on it.   
  
"Get someone after her; she's not getting away this time!" Mac yelled franticly. Taggart, who was watching his commander, noticed a metallic reflection off of Mac's forehead. He spun on his heels, as time seemed to slow to a crawl; Taggart drew his weapon on Janelle's brother who was now pointing a nice shiny 9 mm at Mac's head. Taggart was able to get off two shots; the first streaked past grazing the "would be" gun man in the cheek. The second hit cleanly in the man's throat. In a third and final shot, the 9mm went widely off aim as the man fell to the ground with only a low wet gurgle emanating from his bullet pierced windpipe. The bullet from the 9mm hit a barrel of ether, causing sparks to fly into the flammable liquid. Instantly the barrel exploded into a ball of flames knocking Mac and Taggart to the ground. "Get out! This place is going to blow!!" the two men yelled in unison as they recovered from the blast and started to run out of the building themselves leaving Janelle's brother's body to its fiery fate.  
  
The red sports car pulled up to the hill overlooking the warehouse that just moments ago was a hive of activity with cops watching the same building. As the warm red glow of the fire rose up through the foggy night air, Janelle just stood there watching her life go down in flames.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
At the firehouse, Scott, Karen, and Serena sat at the dining room table. The two girls couldn't help but to laugh at Scott as he shook paprika all over the spaghetti that he had placed on his plate. As he looked up from his plate, he shot a smirk at both Karen and Serena, "that's enough out of you two. You two have this nasty habit of ganging up on me." He smiled to himself because he knew that he loved every minute if it.  
  
"Well, Dad" Serena said taking another bite of her buttered noodles, "the only thing that you have ever wanted was for Karen and I to have a strong bond with each other."  
  
Scott shook his head and chuckled "you've got me there, kiddo. So Karen," he said changing the subject, "have you heard from Chris? How is his conference going?"  
  
"He called last night. He said the conference is going well. He misses being home…but he only has two more weeks."  
  
Scott recognized the look in Karen's eyes. He knew that she missed Chris and really needed him to be there for her and Nikki. He gave her a gentle smile and patted her hand, "he'll be home before you know it, honey."  
  
Karen nodded and gave a small a smile. "So, what's the story with Janelle? Have you two gotten any closer?" she asked changing the subject with a sly grin and winking.  
  
"Yeah dad, should Karen and I be gearing up for a new stepmother?" Serena chimed in.  
  
"There you two go again…no, we are just two adults who enjoy each other's company."  
  
"Yeah, right…" Serena and Karen said together sarcastically as they exchanged a look.  
  
Scott's smile faded as he began to think more about Janelle. He couldn't shake the feeling that she might be in some kind of danger. He looked back down at his plate and began to twirl his fork in his spaghetti.  
  
"Is something bothering you, dad?" Karen asked when she noticed his sudden mood change.  
  
"No, not really….it's more of a feeling that I have. I can't help but to feel that Janelle might be heading for some kind of trouble or danger."  
  
"Why do you say that?"  
  
"It's just a feeling that I have…I mean…why didn't she know before today that her brother was going to be in town tonight?"  
  
"Maybe it was a last minute trip…" Karen tried to reason out with her father.   
  
"Yeah, maybe…but I smell a rat…I think there is more to this flight to Chicago that…" Scott replied but was interrupted by the sound of the front door slamming. They all turned to see Janelle coming through the door pulling a gun out her purse and waving at the group.  
  
"Rat's home…" Serena announced quickly moving behind her father and her sister.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Mac stood outside the burning warehouse as a set of headlights roll up to the scene, in the background the flashing lights and blares of the fire engine sirens could be heard in the distance. Rhonda stepped out of the car, and approached the commissioner. "So, it was Janelle, wasn't it?"  
  
Mac nodded his answer as he continued to write notes in a pocket notebook, and a smile grew across Rhonda's face. "I knew she couldn't be trusted. At least now she'll be put away for a long time, so she can't hurt anyone else."   
  
Mac turned to face his informant. "The information you gave us was good, but she had an escape plan."   
  
Rhonda's smile quickly fell into a frown "You mean she got away! How?!" Rhonda struggled to comprehend how she could escape from a raid consisting of a majority of Port Charles's finest.   
  
Mac put a hand on Rhonda's shoulder "I know you're worried about Scott, and the girls. I have an APB out for her, but the car she drove off in was an Italian sports car. We couldn't catch her even if we did know where she was headed. Our best bet is to just wait until she stops…" Mac's thought was interrupted by a ringing in Rhonda's handbag. Reaching in, she found her cell phone and answered it. Rhonda pulled the phone from her ear and handed it to Mac, "I know where she is."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Janelle, what the hell are you doing?" Scott asked backing away from her but remaining in front of his daughters.  
  
"Oh look, the gang's all here well except for the little princess in the hospital," Janelle said ignoring Scott. "Things didn't go exactly as planned tonight and now I need some insurance. And that is exactly what you and your pain in the ass kids are going to give me."  
  
"I'll help you in any way that I can…just leave my girls out of this…" he began to plead with Janelle.  
  
"Shut up you idiot. These two spoiled brats are the reason that I'm in this mess."  
  
"How dare you…" Karen yelled at Janelle trying to move toward her. Scott grabbed Karen's arm and pushed her behind him again.   
  
"Karen, calm down…don't instigate anything here…" he said trying to keep things as composed as possible.  
  
"Yeah, Karen, listen to daddy," She said aiming the gun at Scott. "You know, Baldwin, you really need to keep better tabs on your kids. Unfortunately they both take after you and have a knack for falling into the wrong crowd. Things were going so good for me, and those two boys were creating the perfect decoy…Until they passed it to the wrong person. If that girl wouldn't have driven the car that night, you never would have made it your personal mission to find justice."  
  
"You're where the boys got the marijuana?" Karen asked in shock.  
  
"Oh honey…come on…the weed was small potatoes. It was just enough to send the department on a wide goose chase."  
  
"Your stupid drug ring almost cost me and my baby our lives," Karen yelled unable to contain her anger. Scott turned toward Karen just enough to put his arms around her and still keep an eye on Janelle. "You need to calm down, Karen," he said "going off like that is just going to make matters worse." Karen looked deep into his eyes, she let go of her anger just enough to let a single tear roll down her cheek. As he looked at Karen, Scott pulled all of his courage together and took Karen and Serena's hands in his as he turned toward Janelle.   
  
"If it's insurance that you want then fine…take me, leave my daughters alone. I can get you what you need," he tried to bargain with her.  
  
"You think you have me figured out don't you, Baldwin? I'm sure you thought that you were the one that I was after the whole time…wow…that's quite an ego you have. But actually, your not the bargaining chip that I need right now…she is," Janelle said waving the gun in Karen's direction. "And right now, I have a sniper out there with a high powered rifle zeroed in on your baby girl's head, so what do you say we cut the chit chat and you and the little one move over there next to those pipes going up the wall."  
  
Scott saw the fear in Karen's eyes but knew the best thing to do was listen to Janelle. He took Serena by the hand and moved her over to wall like Janelle ordered. Janelle followed them while pulling two pairs of handcuffs out of her purse and cuffing them to the pipes. "There …should hold you for now."  
  
Scott continued to plead with Janelle for his daughter's life. "Come on, Janelle…Karen can't do anything for you, I'm the DA, I can get you whatever you want. Please just leave Karen out of this."  
  
"See now, that's where you're wrong counselor, I'm sure you know by now that Sonny Corinthos has a soft spot for the princess here, and he would do just about anything for her. Well that is what I need. Isn't that right, Kari?" Janelle said grabbing Karen by the back of the neck and pulling her toward the door. She tried to fight Janelle off like Jagger had taught her years ago, but she was still very sore from her surgery and each thrust that she tried to make just brought on more pain. Instead all she could get out was a small cry for help to her father.   
  
Hearing her call out to him was more than he could take. He began to think about many times that she must have called out for him when she was younger only for him to not be there for her. He turned and began to kick the pipes as hard as he could; hoping that adrenaline and anger would be enough to break the pipes and free him and Serena.   
  
Janelle ignored the struggling pair and forced Karen out of the door at gun point using her as a human shield. No sooner than Janelle and Karen stepped onto the porch, four police cruisers storm up to the firehouse. Turning to find another escape route, Janelle spotted three more cars sent to cover the back. Mac stepped out of one of the cruisers with his gun drawn, as the other officers took positions behind their car's doors. "Drop your weapon Janelle, we have you surrounded, don't be another statistic like your brother." Mac ordered.   
  
Janelle peered at the commissioner not quite sure she that she understood what he is saying "Roberto, he's…"   
  
Mac nodded "He pulled a gun on me, we had no choice." Janelle had figured that if she escaped she could break him out, or have her lawyers get him off on a technicality. She never though he'd end up like this. Enraged Janelle pulled up on Karen, if this town took her brother she was going to take something from it.   
  
Cries of 'drop it' echoed throughout the neighborhood as the various officers yelled commands at Janelle. Just as Janelle was ready to pull the trigger, Rhonda burst forward from the sideline and knocked Karen to the ground taking the bullet, which was meant for her only daughter, squarely in her own shoulder. Mac fired a single shot that hit Janelle in the knee. She dropped to the ground, as Taggart and a group of officers rush in and pinned her down. Other officers rushed forward, as if on some unheard command, to rush Karen and Rhonda to safety.   
  
Among the frantic yells outside, one coming from inside the firehouse could be heard. "Could someone spare a handcuff key, and get us off these blasted pipes!" Mac directed an officer to go and release Scott and Serena. Once released, the two came rushing out of the firehouse franticly, knowing only that they had heard two gun shots. "Would someone explain to me what's going on! Where is my daughter?" Scott commanded.   
  
Scott stopped dead in his tracks and stared down at the now handcuffed Janelle. "Why don't you ask Janelle Marchero, AKA Janelle Alcazar." Mac answered "Alcazar!"   
  
Scott questioned overcome by shock.  
  
Mac pulled out of his pocket the neatly folded paper that Taggart had given him earlier. "Roberto and Janelle Alcazar…cousins to Lorenzo and Luis Alcazar." Scott simply looked down at Janelle who was being hoisted up by the officers as one hastily bandaged her leg in preparation for the EMTs to arrive.   
  
Turning back to Mac, "How did you know that she'd come back here?" Scott inquired. "Ask her." Mac answered pointing past Scott's shoulder to his youngest, who was still standing in the door way. Coyly Serena smiled, as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket with the attached headpiece still draped around her neck, "Rhonda made me promise to put her on speed dial."   
  
Scott turned back to look at Rhonda and Karen, who were both being bandaged by the EMTs. He put his head down as a big smile painted his face. He walked over to Serena and pulled her into a tight hug, "That's my girl…" he said putting his arm around her and walking toward Karen and Rhonda, who were both sitting on the bumper of the ambulance. Scott leaned over and kissed Karen on the top of her head, "You okay, honey?"  
  
"I'm fine," she said as tears stained her cheeks from the stress of the situation.  
  
Scott looked at Rhonda glancing at her arm now in a sling, "One of these days, Rhonda…I'm going to learn to listen to you." He gave her a gentle hug as Serena sat down on the bumper next to Karen and laid her head on her shoulder. Karen put her arm around Serena's lower back and tilted her head to Serena's and whispered, "thanks, sis." 


	20. Epilogue

~*~ Epilogue ~*~  
  
It was Christmas Eve and the whole town was bustling with the Christmas spirit. Strings of lights could be seen up and down every street as the snow gently floated to the ground. At the firehouse, Serena was sitting on the sofa bopping her head along with the tune that was playing on her cd player as she stared at the half decorated tree in the middle of the living room. She took her eyes away from the tree only when she noticed the front door open and Karen step inside. She had a diaper bag hanging on her shoulder and a bundled baby in her arms. Serena jumped up and ran to her sister to help.   
  
"Merry Christmas, Sis" Karen said greeting Serena.   
  
"Merry Christmas…" she replied "Where's Chris?"  
  
"Oh he is outside getting everything out of the car…do you have shoes on? Can you run out and help him while I get Nikki settled?"  
  
Serena reached out for the baby, plucking her from Karen's arms, "How about…I get Nikki settled and you go back out into the cold and help Chris…" she said with a sly grin.  
  
Karen cocked her head to the side and smirked, "thanks, Scott junior…"  
  
"No problem…" Serena said taking Nikki and the Diaper bag toward the kitchen as Scott entered the living room.  
  
"Hey, I thought I heard voices out here…Merry Christmas, Honey!" as he approached Karen and gave her a peck on the cheek.   
  
"Merry Christmas, Dad! What's going on around here?" she finally asked looking at the half decorated tree.  
  
"Well, I am decorating the tree and your mother is in the kitchen baking cookies."  
  
Karen jerked her head back in shock, "Mom? Is baking?"  
  
"She was baking…but now it smells more like burning…" Serena joked.  
  
Their attention was drawn to the kitchen for a minute when they heard loud cursing and a pan crash down on the countertop.  
  
"Yeah…well…it was Serena's idea and the two of them got started but Serena quit halfway through…" he said shooting Serena a look.  
  
"I forgot I had an important phone call to make." Serena tried to explain but no one accepted the excuse.  
  
Karen threw a skeptical look at Serena and then at Scott, just as Chris fumbled his way through the door and dropped all the packages that he carried in. "Karen, dear, it is snowing in the trunk. I thought you were going to come out and help me…"  
  
"I am, I just wanted to take care of Nikki first," she said.  
  
"She looks like she's in good hands to me," Chris said.  
  
"Okay, Chris…I'm coming…"  
  
"Karen," Scott interjected, "Take care of the baby, I'll help Chris" he said as he grabbed his coat and walked out to the car.   
  
Karen moved over to Serena and took Nikki from her arms, "come on, kiddo…let's go see what Grandma's burning in the kitchen."  
  
Serena picked up the diaper bag and followed Karen into the kitchen. "Merry Christmas, mom," Karen greeted as she entered.   
  
"Oh, honey, Merry Christmas," she said pulling the baby out of Karen's arms and turned toward Serena. "And look who finally decided to come back to the kitchen." Serena just shrugged her shoulders as she took the diaper bag into the nursery.  
  
Karen laughed at Serena's reaction as she tried to scrape one of the burnt cookies off of the pan. "Mom, do you need help with something in here?"  
  
"No, I'm all done," she replied while she played with Nikki. "Your sister is going to clean up the mess, since it was her idea to make the cookies."  
  
Karen joined her mother at the table while she began to explain all of Nikki's quirky habits. In the background, Serena began to clean up the kitchen starting with the sheets of cookies. She dumped the burnt cookies in the garbage, cookie sheets and all. She then placed the rest of the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.   
  
"Oh, so here is where everyone disappeared to," Gail said when she entered the kitchen. "And there's my cute little great granddaughter." Gail tickled under her chin making her laugh.   
  
"Hi Grandma," Karen said giving her a hug. "Where's grandpa?"  
  
"Oh, he is outside with your father and Chris. Two lawyers and a doctor arguing over bringing in Christmas presents."  
  
"Sounds like they could use a woman's influence to get things moving out there…." Karen said laughing as she made her way to the front door as the other woman followed her into the living room.   
  
Karen and Serena stood just outside the doorway laughing at the men argue. "You know, if you guys would spend less time arguing and more time carrying, you could all be in the house by now." Karen yelled to them as she began to walk toward them to help.  
  
"Yeah, well, maybe some women that I know should have spent less time shopping and more time doing…ah…woman things!" Chris retorted. The men finally grabbed what was left of the bags and brought them into the house. As they passed Karen on the snow covered sidewalk, she just smirked at them "shopping is a woman thing."   
  
As they reached the door, Rhonda was there to take the packages from the men as they shook off the snow. Just as Karen had turned around to follow the men, from out of the blue, she was hit in the back of the head by snowball. She turned only to see Serena standing about 15 feet away from her laughing. "You little…" Karen groaned as she picked up a handful of snow and molded it into a ball. She threw it at Serena, but missed when Serena ducked out of the way. Serena jumped up and took off running through the snow when she saw Karen coming after her.  
  
Scott's attention was finally drawn to his daughters when he heard them yelling. When he looked up and saw them chasing each other around the snow covered yard, he pulled Rhonda out onto the porch to watch the girls. Both started to laugh when Karen finally pelted Serena in the back causing her to trip. "Gotcha!" Karen said plopping down in the snow next to Serena. Serena sat up next to her sister and smiled, "let's go in, I'm cold." Karen nodded and began to get up out of the snow just as Serena picked up a handful of snow and dropped down the back of Karen's shirt. Serena took of running toward the house when Karen screamed, "SERENA, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"  
  
Serena jetted past Scott and Rhonda, who were still standing on the porch laughing. Through the living room, she whizzed right past Lee, Gail, and Chris. All three spun around quickly to see Karen run in right behind her and stop in the middle of the living room. She looked up toward the balcony "when you least expect it, little sister. If I were you I wouldn't go to sleep tonight," she shouted.   
  
"Karen, don't kill your sister before dinner," Scott chuckled as he and Rhonda came back into the house.  
  
Karen quickly turned around and shot a look at Scott. "I'm going to get out of these wet clothes," she mumbled choosing to ignore her father.  
  
"What has gotten into those two?" Gail asked.  
  
Scott moved over to the Christmas tree and began to put more decorations on. "Oh, they're just having fun. I rather enjoy seeing them goof around like that together. Reminds me of me and Brooke, when we were young," he said with a half smile as he remembered his older sister in their youth.  
  
"Karen and Serena are nothing like what you and Brooke were," Lee interjected. "You would torment Brooke every chance that you got. I don't think I ever saw you two give each other a hug…unless you want to count the headlocks that you put on each other."  
  
"Headlocks count…" Scott defended as he watched Rhonda and Karen begin to set the food on the table. "Besides, Brooke had most of them coming to her."  
  
"Who's Brooke?" Karen asked setting the mashed potatoes down on the table the calling for Serena to help.  
  
"Brooke was my older sister..."   
  
"Sister?" Karen questioned in shock "I didn't know that you had an older sister."   
  
"Who has an older sister?" Serena asked clumping down the stairs.  
  
"Dad, does…"  
  
"Since when?" Serena asked looking to Karen.  
  
Karen shrugged and Lee shook his head and slapped Scott's shoulder. "Son, have you ever told these kids anything about their family?"  
  
"Sure I have, Dad…" Scott started pointing to Lee and then Gail, "they know that your grandpa, she's grandma, and I'm Dad. That's all they need to know. Now if nobody objects, I'm going to turn the news on to get some information about this storm," he stated before sitting down at the head of the table.  
  
As they ate dinner, the sound of the news caster rang behind them in a report about Janelle's trial. "So what ever happened to her?" Karen finally asked Scott.  
  
"Who Janelle?...she was convicted and sentenced life in prison without the possibility of parole."  
  
"No, not Janelle…Brooke…whatever happened to Aunt Brooke?"   
  
"Aunt Brooke," Scott repeated smiling at Lee. "Wouldn't she have liked to have heard those words…" he stated. Lee nodded in agreement. "She died, honey….before you were born."  
  
Both Karen and Serena wanted to hear more about Scott's sister, but the subject was quickly changed when the weatherman announced that Port Charles was going to get hit with 18 more inches of snow before morning.  
  
"18 inches?" Chris shouted. "we already have 10 out there."  
  
"Well, it looks like everyone should make themselves comfortable..." Scott said as a smile crept across his face at the realization that his entire family was going to spend Christmas together. No one could have planned it better.   
  
"But Scotty, where is everyone going to sleep?" Gail asked  
  
"It's a big house, we'll figure something out," he replied continuing to eat his dinner.  
  
As the night pressed on, the Baldwin family enjoyed a traditional Christmas Eve. Complete with presents, decorating and singing carols. Until one by one, they all made their way off to bed. All except for Scott, who had just turned off all of the lights and stood in front of the window watching the snow fall down through the moonlight. Suddenly he heard a voice behind him, "I thought you were going to bed?" He turned around to see Rhonda silhouetted by the moon.  
  
"I was, but the snow caught my eye when I turned out the lights…Beautiful isn't it?" Scott went over to the CD player to softly play some music. He then stepped beside Rhonda and held out his hand in a manner that asked her to dance. Graciously, she accepted. Both were unaware that Karen was standing in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. Karen stood there for a minute with a slight smile on her face.  
  
She only made her presence known when she realized that she was about to witness her father gently kiss her mother.  
  
"So is this was the dance was like?" she asked as she approached her parents.  
  
Rhonda began to blush, but Scott held out his hand to Karen pulling her close to him. He stepped far enough away from Rhonda to begin dancing with Karen. "Ah…A Night of Magic…Wasn't that the theme of the dance, Rhonda? You want to know what the best part of that dance was?" he asked as he slowly led his daughter through the room in a tight box step.  
  
"What's that?" she asked with a smile thinking that she already knew that answer.  
  
Scott smiled a bright smile and hugged her tightly, "Seeing my daughter for the first time…" Scott wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek and gently kissed her forehead. "I love you, baby," He whispered.  
  
"I thought I heard voices and music down here," Serena said as she descended the stairway. "What's going on?"  
  
"Nothing…" Scott said motioning for Serena, "Come on, let's watch a late night showing of a Christmas Story. I'm sure that there is some channel playing it in a 24 hour marathon."  
  
They all settled down on the couch to watch the movie, which sure enough, was just starting. Rhonda and Scott sat next to each other in the middle while Serena sat next to Rhonda and Karen next to Scott. As if reading each other minds, both Karen and Serena laid their heads on the laps of the parent that they sat next too, as the opening monologue to the movie began. After covering the girls with a blanket, he put his arm around Rhonda and leaned over to give her a kiss. "How did we get so lucky, Rhonda? I mean, we ended up with the two most beautiful, wonderful and perfect girls, a gorgeous granddaughter, and each other. With all of our mixed up misgivings, somewhere along the line we did something right."  
  
"I think it all started with 'A Nigh of Magic' back in 1973." Rhonda answered as she laid her head on Scott's shoulder.   
  
Scott looked down at his daughters who had both fallen asleep, "We have become a perfect family," he said as he finally settled in on watching the movie.  
  
THE END.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
I would like to thank everyone who ready this story, I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hopefully, I will begin posting a new one shortly. Thank you, again. 


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